Burning Witches
by pseudo-quill
Summary: When a witch is arrested in town, Syaoran—a young guard—is assigned to her cell. Amidst the chaos that follows the seemingly innocent girl into court, relationships will be formed and loyalties will be tested. It seems that no one is without secrets. FIN
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own TRC. CLAMP does a better job owning TRC than I ever would.**

**Warnings: Implied, hi-i'm-whacking-you-with-a-neon-pink-stick pairings. Sort of SakuSyao-centric, with (way more explicit) KuroFai on the side. Because who doesn't love KuroFai? Mentioned Douwata, Shougo with Primera, and Sorata gushing over Arashi. I guess you could call this an AU. This is CLAMP, so yaoi/ shounen-ai. Might have what some consider to be suggestive themes in certain chapters. Minor cussing.**

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><p>It was cold.<p>

The constant dripping of water resounded eerily around the cell. She couldn't really tell through the thick shroud of darkness, but from the one time she had slipped on the slimy floor and reached out to steady herself, it seemed the rocky walls were covered in damp muck. There were no windows save for a small window on the door of her cell, casting a small rectangle of flickering light on the algae-covered stone at its feet. The air was damp and stale, and she supposed that she ought not to have been cold at all. If anything, the room was rather stuffy and a layer of cooling perspiration clung uncomfortably to her skin, sticky and cold.

_The cold must be coming from within_, she mused silently. She was miserable, and she was lonely. Her only source of comfort was that small rectangle of light, in which she now sat, huddled up with her knees to her chin.

And she _still_ didn't know what she had done to be thrown this horrid cell.

The rhythmic drip of stank water and the hissing flicker of the torch outside was broken by loud footsteps echoing noisily down the corridor. She raised her head in curiosity at the sound of clinking chain-mail as her guard stood.

"Kanio," one of the men greeted quietly, "You're late for your shift."

So her guards were changing shifts.

"You have a problem with that?" came an unpleasantly snide voice, "I'm a busy man, Shougo."

"Sure you are," her guard—Shougo, was it?—agreed easily, though she could make out a mocking undertone, "Now if you'll excuse me, I'd best be making my way home. Primera will be worried."

There was again the chink of moving chain-mail before footsteps once again echoed through the dim hallway outside her cell, this time getting progressively softer. She wondered briefly if she ought to greet her new guard with a quiet 'good evening' (it was only polite after all), but was pulled from her pondering by the rattle of iron keys as the imposing steel door was unlocked noisily from the outside. A pause, then the door swung noisily open on rusty hinges and the new guard stepped into the dank cell.

She stared up at him with large eyes. Her guards had never once come in nor spoken with her since she had been thrown into the dungeons, save to slide a measly tray of cold gruel through the door. But the last time she had been given food was perhaps only an hour ago (it was hard to tell in the dark prison) and it was definitely not time for another meal yet. She could barely make out his leering face in the gloomy light, torch throwing his flickering shadow over her menacingly. He was large, fat even, with a round chubby face. He was bald save for a small tuft of hair sitting right at the top of his head, and a pair of small dark lenses obscured his eyes from view.

"So _you're_ the peasant-witch," the guard sneered at her, "What's your name?"

She licked her dry lips. But when she spoke, her voice was soft and sweet, shy and strangely unfrightened by her intimidating guard.

"Sakura."

Chain-mail clinking, the guard straightened up.

"Ah, I see," he said smoothly. And here, a nasty grin spread itself across his round face, "Well, _Princess_, my name's Kanio. And I'll be your tormentor for the rest of your stay."

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><p><strong>AN: So err... Here's the prologue, the first chapter should hopefully be up within an hour. This is going to be a chaptered fic, but I've already finished writing the draft. There will be 7 chapters. It's my first time publishing (I've written but never published any of my writing), so I'm sort of at a loss with the rating. I'm actually surprised my first published fic _ever_ is so SakuSyao centric because I'm a mad KuroFai fangirl. I flail at the mere _thought_ of KuroFai, that's how bad I am.**

**I would bribe you by saying reviews make me write faster, but I've already told you people that I've finished writing it.**

**Ahem. **

**Review please!**


	2. Day 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own TRC. CLAMP does a better job owning TRC than I ever would.**

**Summary: Sakura endears herself to her captors as her presence is discussed up in the palace.**

**Warnings: Implied, hi-i'm-whacking-you-with-a-neon-pink-stick pairings. Sort of SakuSyao-centric, with (way more explicit) KuroFai on the side. Because who doesn't love KuroFai? Mentioned Douwata, Shougo with Primera, and Sorata gushing over Arashi. I guess you could call this an AU. This is CLAMP, so yaoi/ shounen-ai. Might have what some consider to be suggestive themes in certain chapters.**

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><p>The wooden door of the guard-post swung dangerously open with a loud <em>bang!<em> Shougo didn't even blink, gaze not rising from his mug.

"Syaoran," he greeted casually as the young teen hopped around by the door, struggling to take his cloak off and stick his foot into his boot at the same time.

"Shougo?" the boy questioned, amber eyes wide with surprise. He slapped his hands against the grey concrete walls of the small building as his moment of distraction caused him to trod on the hem of his cloak, sending him pitching ungracefully forwards with a sharp yelp. Balance regained, the brunette turned his attention back to his fellow guard, "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be home with Primera?"

Shougo tsked unhappily, taking a swig of his beer before replying.

"The archbishop begged a favor as I was leaving, and I couldn't possibly turn him down now, could I?"

"Favor?" Syaoran asked as threw his tunic over the back of a wooden chair, leaving him in his cotton undershirt, drenched in sweat, "What favor? An extra shift?"

"Yep," he affirmed miserably, sighing as he took another long draught of his drink (Syaoran considered telling him not to drink so much before a shift), "Yours, in fact."

"Mine?" the brunette paused in his hurried changing for a moment, frowning as he tried to figure out what Shougo had meant by 'his'. Understanding came before the man could further elaborate, "My shift? Why?"

His fellow guard waved a hand lazily, as if trying to wave all his worries away.

"He wants you to take over Kanio's shift early."

"Oh," the teen looked thoughtful as he began tugging the tunic of the guard's uniform over his head.

Shougo returned his gaze to his mug and casually asked, "So how was training?"

"It was good," he replied, voice slightly muffled from under the tunic that was being decidedly uncooperative today—and at such an inconvenient time too! "He says I still have a long way to go though." The other man scoffed at that as Syaoran finally managed to pull his head through the neck of the tunic and turned around, looking for his cloak fastener.

"He works you too hard."

The boy turned around again distractedly.

"Well," he said absently, "I need to work hard in order to get better, don't I?"

He turned around another few times, then strode up and down the length of the post another good few times. Bending low, he glanced quickly under the tables and chairs, then grabbed the clothes he had just changed out of. He wrung them out in case it were hiding within its folds, growing increasingly frustrated as the elusive trinket refused to reveal itself to him. Finally, he threw his hands up in the air exasperatedly, "Shougo, have you seen my cloak fastener? I can't seem to find it _anywhere!_"

Shougo contemplated for a moment before removing his own, a small golden brooch in the shape of a songbird, and tossing it to Syaoran over the small wooden table. The boy caught it deftly, turning it over in his hands to inspect it before he shrugged and pulled his cloak around his shoulders.

"Primera gave that to me, so don't lose it," the older guard drawled lazily, tilting the chair back to balance precariously on two legs. He curiously watched the younger guard struggle with the fastener for a moment, over the rim of his foaming glass, "You know, I still don't understand." A questioning '_hmm?_' came from the brunette, frowning adorably as he attempted to work the newly acquired fastener. Sighing, Shougo let the chair rock back onto four legs with a loud clack and got up, setting his mug down on the wooden table.

"I joined the guard so that I could learn to fight. Because I wanted to protect Primera," he explained as he slapped the boy's hands away and clipped the ends of the cloak together for him. That done, he retreated and perched on the edge of the rickety table, reaching for his abandoned drink and taking another sip.

"But you," he continued thoughtfully, "Why do you continue to fight? And why start here, when a mention of your teacher's name could land you in a much higher place?"

An look of determination graced the boy's face, amber eyes hardening and making him look much older than his years.

Syaoran met his gaze levelly and firmly as he replied.

"I need to start from the bottom, so that I can grow and get better at what I need to do," his face softened into a sweet smile, "I just know I need to do this, because there's something I need to do. I don't know what that is right now, but I know I'll find out one day!"

Whatever Shougo might have said to that was cut off as the door opened a second time, more gracefully than when Syaoran had rushed in earlier.

"Syao_-ran~!_"

The brunette blinked, and the ethereal figure gliding through the door refocused into the willowy form of the archbishop. Against the grey backdrop of the concrete walls, the man's pale hair, fair unblemished skin, and white formal robes all but _glowed_ pristinely in the dull room. He was all soft pastel tones save for the unnaturally deep cornflower blue of kindly twinkling eyes. Another blink, and Syaoran snapped out of the daze the archbishop's sudden appearance had induced. Blushing a bright red in shame for forgetting his manners, he snapped his gaping mouth shut and spun around to bow stiffly to the blonde. He was, after all, the archbishop.

"Now, now, Syaoran," the archbishop chastised, seeming almost like a disapproving mother-hen as he cooed and fussed and clucked his tongue like an irate gecko, adding a short 'hey there, Shougo!" before striding forward to cuddle the red-faced boy, "Why the formality? How's my favorite grump's precious apprentice?"

Shougo began to snicker at the distressed look on the brunette's face as the blonde continued to make a general spectacle of them both. A loud ungentlemanly snort came from the doorway.

"Oi, idiot. Don't coddle him. It's not manly."

Syaoran started in Fai's vice-like embrace, face aflame in a furious blush.

"Sir Kurogane!"

"Kid," the knight acknowledged shortly before jumping straight to the point, "the second princess wants to see the witch; the one in the ninth cell. I came to tell you that she's coming tomorrow, so make sure it's safe or the king will have your hides."

Syaoran frowned, confused.

"Witch?"

"Yep," the archbishop cut in cheerfully just as Kurogane was opening his mouth to reply, much to the man's annoyance, "For some strange reason, the king had her arrested the moment he saw her at the parade this morning. I'll be trialling her the day after tomorrow."

"That's your shift," Shougo added to Syaoran, "no one knows why the king is so frantic to have her burnt."

Syaoran froze.

"My shift? You mean to say you left Kanio _all alone_ with a helpless girl?"

Fai stepped in, his smile as serene as ever.

"And that was why I had you take over Kanio's shift early," he explained calmly, "Until she is proven a witch, she is innocent. I will not have anyone mistreating an innocent little girl."

Syaoran wriggled from the archbishop's grip (the man had to have _tentacles_ for arms; there was no other reason why it'd be so hard to get away from him!), nearly falling over as he stepped on long formal robes and tripped himself up. His mentor caught him by the bicep and pulled him upright. Face blazing spectacularly, the young guard began to apologize profusely to both of them for his clumsiness, bowing repeatedly over Fai's protests.

"Stop," ordered his mentor, and Syaoran did so immediately, "Now, what were you about to do?"

"Oh," said Syaoran, eyes widened as he straightened almost comically, "_Oh!_"

And with that he turned and started rushing out of the door.

"I've got to go take over Kanio's shift!"

"But," began the archbishop, watching the hem of his cloak disappearing around the wooden doorframe, "You're fifteen minutes early!"

But it was too late, the boy was already gone.

* * *

><p>A shrill yelp as he descended the stone stairs leading down into the dungeons had him breaking into a run. He threw open the steel-barred doors at the bottom of the stairs and skidded on... whatever muck it was that was growing on the floor as he took a sharp turn around the corner. Choked, gasping cries echoed down the dim corridor.<p>

"Oh, oh! Stop! Don't—Stop it, you!"

Syaoran began sprinting down towards the source of the noise, lighted lantern swinging dangerously from his hand as he did.

Five... Six... Seven... Eight... _Nine!_

He threw open the door of the cell, determined to pummel Kanio's face into the mucky stone floor, and froze at the sight awaiting him.

"Oh," said the girl, large green eyes wide with surprise. Her pupils constricted as she adapted to the harsh firelight of the lantern he'd brought with him. Her eyes focused on his face and widened even further, "_Oh._"

Kanio was crouched by the girl, sitting on the floor as she clutched at her stomach, the remnants of a bright smile slipping off her face in surprise. Her clothing was pristine, completely intact, and her hair fell unentangled to end just above her shoulders. Untouched, and definitely unhurt.

"I thought my shift only ended at midnight?" Kanio asked, confused, "It's not even dinner yet."

Syaoran's mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water.

"You—" he spluttered, "I thought—She was—"

Kanio and the girl looked at him concernedly.

"I thought you would—" the brunette paused awkwardly, "Well, it didn't happen so it doesn't matter. The archbishop was worried about that too, so he sent me down to take over your shift early."

The girl looked on in oblivious bemusement, eyes adorably wide. She was considerably young—about his age—with short brown hair and pretty leaf-green eyes that sparkled in the flickering light, wearing the usual commoner's garb: white flats with a simple green and brown dress with puffy sleeves and a long skirt. She was pretty enough, but it was that strange aura of innocence that made him double-take at her. Her eyes were kind, hands folded sweetly in her lap and legs tucked neatly behind her. Pale skin seemed to glow softly with her gentle smile, and she really did seem like an angel. Syaoran thought he could suddenly understand what had possessed Kanio to change from what had probably been his original intentions.

"Wait," he said, suddenly remembering something and feeling confused, "Why was she calling for you to stop just now?"

The girl giggled softly.

"Kanio-san is really funny," she explained, "It hurt to laugh that much."

Kanio waggled his eyebrows and winked at her. The girl broke out into another fit of sweet laughter. Despite himself, the teen felt a grin break across his face. He couldn't bring himself to believe that someone so sweet could _possibly_ be one of the devil's accursed followers.

And her smile, it was so very warm.

"Well, since my shift is over, I'd better get going, eh?" the man stood up and stretched, groaning as his spine popped. He cracked his knuckles before leaning over Syaoran threateningly, "You take good care of my princess, you hear? I don't want her sitting alone in the dark, all scared and lonely."

Syaoran chuckled and waved him off.

"Sure, sure. I'll sit in here with her."

"Good, I'm holding you to that," the door creaked open on its rusty hinges. The other guard's flickering shadow cast itself over the two teens as he paused at the threshold of the cell, turning to flash the girl an affectionate grin, "Bye, Princess. If he does anything, tell me and I'll beat him up for you." The girl giggled again and gently waggled her fingers in goodbye. The larger man goofily returned the finger-wave, and with that, left the cell.

Syaoran stepped forward and crouched down to one knee, taking one of her small hands between both of his own. He pressed a chaste kiss to the back of her knuckles, like he would to a court lady, and smiled at her gently.

"Well, Princess," he began lightly, adopting Kanio's affectionate nickname, "I'm Syaoran. What's your name?"

The girl's answering smile seemed to light up the gloomy cell as she turned to beam brightly at him.

"I'm Sakura. It's nice to meet you, Syaoran-kun."

Syaoran wondered at the strange addition to his name. Perhaps it was a nickname, like one of the archbishop's many nicknames for his mentor. The two of them were always fighting like cats and dogs, to-the-death chases inclusive. But whatever she had said, he found himself smiling widely back at her all the same.

"Hello Sakura, it's very nice to meet you too."

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><p>"The girl, Father plans to have her burnt right after my unveiling."<p>

A petite figure richly clad in pink embroidered silks and laces gently reached over to touch the hand of her companion. A peach veil, pulled over her head, obscured her face and hair from sight and was attached to her collar at the nape of her neck with a red satin rose. Three jeweled chains of silver ran from under the flower—one over the top of her head, and two by either temple—meeting in the centre of her forehead.

"Tomoyo, is she really..."

The sweet voice trailed of uncertainly. The girl sitting opposite her, a young girl with long ebony curls and eyes a strange shade of purple, placed her other hand over the hand resting on hers. A simple diadem was nestled atop her head, and she seemed more inclined towards heavy midnight-toned velvets.

"I really can't be sure," she answered soothingly, "I'll be seeing her tomorrow to check. Kurogane will accompany me."

"What will we do if it really is as _she _said?"

Tomoyo paused.

"Whatever it takes."

A short silence fell as both women (little more than girls actually) raised their cups to their lips, the veiled one lifting her veil over her cup delicately. Tomoyo placed her cup back onto the table with a soft chink as the other leaned back in her seat, lowering her gaze to the fragrant tea that she held on her lap.

"Have you chosen your knight yet?"

She shook her head.

"Well, you should really start looking," Tomoyo reminded gently, "The knighting ceremony is just as important as the unveiling."

The veiled girl hesitated almost imperceptibly before speaking.

"You grew up with Kurogane, and he had always been like a brother to you," she said, "It was obvious that you would choose him as your knight. But I..."

Tomoyo looked up at her as she trailed off again.

"What about Fai?" She prompted, "You grew up with him, and he dotes on you greatly."

The other girl paused, then sighed, placing the cup in its beautifully painted saucer and slumping in her seat.

"But Fai is already the archbishop," she argued somewhat miserably, "Even if it wasn't so, he's His Majesty's ward and a prince in his own right. It would be ridiculous for him to serve me as my knight."

Tomoyo reached over to grip her companion's hand once again, this time to prevent her from dumping an unhealthy number of sugar cubes into her steaming teacup in dejection.

"Princess..." she began.

But whatever she had been about to say was cut off by the sounds of loud clanging armor and raised voices coming from down the hall. While one was gruff and undoubtedly furious, the other was lilting with melodic glee. Loud stomping footsteps crashed violently onto Tomoyo's marble floors, getting louder the nearer it got.

"Tomoyo, _Tomoyo!_" then presumably to someone else, "Get _off _me, you idiot!"

The veiled princess stood up, clearing her throat as she chucked her unfinished tea unceremoniously into a nearby plant (an elegantly trimmed bush of unfortunate bonsais) and placed the cup upside down on the tea-tray, hidden amongst all the other unused teacups.

"I'd best be going, I wasn't supposed to be here," she said breezily, "Not presently in any case."

A loud yelp sounded through the door.

"What are you—"

Giggles and loud cursing echoed through the door.

"Skipping your mathematical studies again?"

The princess straightened her veil and smoothed down her gown. She checked that her hairpiece was in place on the back of her teaspoon and set it down on the table before, on second consideration, tossing it into the pot along with her over-sweetened tea.

"You know me too well, dear cousin."

"Kuro-grump~!" came a betrayed whine, reverberating down the hallway as the veiled princess hiked her skirts up and made a swift exit through the window, "You're so _mean_!"

"Oh, for the love of—"

The enraged cadences of the knight's voice cut off suddenly, and a loud crash sounded from the corridor outside.

"Kuro-mean sure is clumsy today!"

"Clumsy? _Clumsy?_ That was only because _you_—"and here the warriors voice suddenly increased in volume as the large, ornate double-doors to Tomoyo's sitting room crashed open with a loud bang,"—were hanging from my neck like some sort of _demented monkey!_"

Said 'demented monkey' dropped gracefully from where he was climbing Kurogane like a tree and all but skipped over to Tomoyo. (Tomoyo vaguely wondered how he managed to do that without tripping over the hem of his white regalia. Kurogane viciously wished for the fool to trod on his ridiculously long dress-thing and fall flat on his annoying face.) But the archbishop made it across the room completely unscathed, robes falling back down pristinely around his slim form as if he had glided calmly and elegantly down the hall instead of climbing over knights and skipping around princesses. He paused to raise Tomoyo's hand gently to his lips, brushing them across her knuckles, as was custom in court.

"Second Princess Tomoyo," he greeted courteously.

"Archbishop Fai," Tomoyo returned the greeting softly before breaking custom to brush her fingertips fondly across his high cheekbones and tapered chin, giggling affectionately at his charming smile.

Pleasantries done and over with, the archbishop allowed his usual silly grin to slide back onto his face as he flopped bonelessly into the seat opposite hers, torso sprawling across the table lazily. Kurogane scoffed at the blonde as he moved to stand behind his princess.

"I have never met a courtier as mannerless as you."

"Says the man who stomped down the hall, yelling for the princess by her first name," Fai shot back.

The princess giggled as the familiar squabble began again, Fai reaching simultaneously to pour himself a cup of tea. He paused as he turned the cup over. His sapphire eyes flicked up to meet her gaze, the enchanting hue seeming to pierce through her sharply though he was still smiling goofily. Her heart fell sharply as she realized Fai was holding the cup that the first princess had emptied into her flower pot not five minutes ago. She hid it quickly, tilting her head and offering him a politely curious look. Fai smiled a serene closed-eyed smile and reached casually for the teapot.

"It's a pretty cup," he offered pleasantly, "yet I cannot help but wonder at the impracticality of a such a beautiful design painted on the inside. Won't the tea obscure it?"

He held his sleeve out of the way with his other hand as he smoothly grasped the porcelain handle of the pot. The rich tea trickled into the hand-painted cup, aromatic steam wafting lazily across the table, effectively erasing the telltale glisten of leftover tea and _oh god! the remains of the half-melted sugar! _that clung to the bottom. Pointedly not adding any sugar, Fai stirred in a small amount of milk and took a delicate sip of the tea.

"Delicious," he complimented, blue eyes on her own violet ones, "You have excellent taste, Princess."

Tomoyo waited for the blow to fall as Fai took another long sip.

He sat the cup back down in his saucer, swirling its contents gently around, thick lashes obscuring his pretty eyes from view.

"Earl grey?" he asked casually, "I was under the impression that you preferred the green tea His Majesty had imported in from the east."

He rested his sharp chin on the back of his hand, leaning closer to her with a look of innocent curiosity on his face. His blue eyes were filled with a less than innocent knowledge. They were soon obscured as he flashed his trademark close-eyed smile.

"Have you had guests?"

Kurogane shifted behind her, scoffing at the archbishop. Tomoyo started; she had forgotten he was in the room. Even in full armor, her knight was eerily silent. She was privately of the opinion that he would make a fine assassin.

"What's this, idiot bishop? Are you interrogating my princess?"

The silliness came back so quickly that Tomoyo blinked at the sudden change. Fai pouted, sporting an expression uncannily similar to that of a kicked puppy.

"I was only curious, Kuro-knight!"

Just as her knight was about to make his reply, Tomoyo decided that Fai wouldn't tattle and cut Kurogane off, giggling behind a raised sleeve.

"Alright, alright," she conceded, violet eyes twinkling fondly, "It was the first princess. She was skipping mathematical studies again."

A genuine look of affection replaced all hidden traces of suspicion on the archbishop's face, and Tomoyo was careful not to let her relief show. Fai chuckled lowly and finished the rest of his tea smoothly.

"She has always hated mathematics."

* * *

><p>Midnight.<p>

Though there were no windows in the cell, Syaoran instinctively knew.

Sakura was asleep with her head pillowed on his lap, huddled up on his cloak (he had taken it off and laid it out for her so that she wouldn't have to sleep on the dirty floor). The young guard smiled at her innocent trust in him. They had barely met for little more than two hours, and she already treated him like she had known him for years. Though he supposed that he too felt rather trusting of her as well, it was hard not to. Syaoran gently rubbed her arm as she shivered. He would bring a blanket tomorrow; it would be all too easy to succumb to illness in a place like this. There was a pretty bad flu bug going around as well.

He started as the door opened slowly, silently. The person on the other side was clearly making a conscious attempt not to alert anyone to his presence. It had worked, he hadn't heard the person coming _at all_; a rather exceptional feat in the echoey corridors of the dungeon. Squinting briefly against the light spilling over them, his eyes widened. He would recognize that broad-shouldered build anywhere.

"Sir Kurogane?"

The door closed behind the knight, and Syaoran could see his teacher's surprise.

"Kozou? What are you doing here?"

Sakura stirred in his lap and slowly pushed herself upright, rubbing sleepily at her eyes.

"Syaoran-kun, what—" she caught sight of the newcomer and her eyes widened, "Oh."

"Sakura, this is Sir Kurogane. He's Second Princess Tomoyo's knight, and my teacher," he introduced, smiling at her reassuringly. He knew that Kurogane could seem pretty intimidating to those who didn't know him very well. Turning to his mentor, "Sir Kurogane, this is Sakura."

For a moment, Kurogane looked confused. Syaoran's face blazed as he realized that he and Sakura had been caught in what would have seemed to be quite a compromising position. Their intentions may have been innocent, but it probably may not have appeared so to an onlooker. Catching Sakura's wide-eyed gaze, the knight's face softened ever so slightly as he crouched next to her, removing his cloak and draping it gently around her frail-looking shoulders.

"Don't get sick, everyone will worry."

Sakura smiled, thanking him as she clutched at the cloak tightly. It was brown instead of the usual black and upon realizing that, Syaoran took full notice of his mentor's strange attire for the first time. Instead of his usual armor, Kurogane wore a brown hooded cloak (which Sakura now had pulled about her petite frame) over a coarse peasant's tunic, loose white work pants, and tattered leather boots, sword hanging from his belt. Though not a particularly picky person, the knight rarely wore anything so rugged; he _was_ a pretty prominent figure after all. It probably also helped that Tomoyo would never let him wear anything but the finest of clothes, tailored in her own designs.

"Are you going somewhere, Sir Kurogane?"

The knight's eyebrows shot up.

"What?"

Syaoran felt his face heat up again. Perhaps it was out of place for him to question a knight? It wasn't any of his business anyway.

"No, no, I—you see—it's just that," Syaoran took a deep breath to calm his nervous stuttering, "you're not wearing your armor today."

"_Ah_," understanding lit his mentor's eyes as he glanced down at himself. Kurogane hesitated for a moment before replying, "I... didn't want to attract too much attention, or make too much noise."

"I see." Syaoran privately felt that his teacher was silent enough already, even in full armor. But he did suppose it would look kinda strange for a knight to be visiting in the dead of night. Speaking of which, what _was_ Kurogane doing here in the middle of the night?

As the brunette pondered on whether it would be rude to voice his unasked question, Kurogane's crimson eyes flicked quickly towards the cell door.

"Since everything's fine, I'm going back now."

Syaoran blinked at the abrupt announcement but the knight was already out of the door and halfway down the hall, quick footfalls perfectly silent in the empty corridor. Not ten seconds later, shuffling footsteps passed the cell as a handheld torch threw long spidery shadows over the walls.

A night sentry on his rounds.

* * *

><p>"Fai, my son."<p>

The blonde blinked and paused at the threshold of the room, turning his head.

"Yes, my king?"

The king sat in a plush armchair by extensive the floor-to-ceiling windows of his study, long fingers weaved together over his stomach as he looked contemplatively out over the castle. A candle on a table by his elbow cast dancing shadows over his pale face and long black hair.

"This is... important to me, dear child."

Long sleeping robes rustled over the slippered feet as the archbishop turned completely to face the monarch, frowning in puzzlement.

"Important, sire?"

The candle flickered as a cold draught slithered through the study. Fai shivered and drew his dressing gown even more tightly around his slight frame.

"The girl," Ashura murmured, still gazing out of the windows, "She must be burnt."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry if the really short 'scenes' bother you, it didn't look so damned short on Word. I don't know if it's just me, but when reading this I thought it felt sort of jerky and disconnected(or maybe it's just because I'm reading my own writing). And the short paragraphs bother me! I really don't know how some writers manage to plunk in a whole chunk of text in between dialogue, but I just can't seem to come up with enough crap to take up the space in between. I found this fic to be mostly driven by dialogue than descriptions and thoughts, so it's almost like a script with occasional descriptions in it. **

**And i****f my strange medieval setting is sort of off, ehehe. I can only offer you a sheepish laugh. ****I love old settings, but I don't write them very well cause I'm a lazy author who does no research. I will not hide my laziness. The speech might not seem very medieval, and I have no idea whether an earl goes before a baron or a duke. If you do not notice in the following chapters then that's awesome, you can go ahead and forget that I basically told you I have no idea what I'm talking about. If you do notice some sort of mistake, then hey! This is AU! This AU world is different, yeah? It's a whole new world!**

**On a side note, Christmas is coming and I need to wrap presents for my parents, because they both can't wrap for nuts. 'Tis sort of sad that I have to refrain from posting in favor of wrapping presents on my parents' behalf. I also need to buy something to wear for my cousin's Christmas party because I just got back from China and all my clothes are still washing/ drying, and yes, I really do have that little clothes to wear. The rain here is terrible so my clothes are refusing to dry.**

**That said, I might take a while to post the next chapter.**

**Please review. I don't think that would make my parents any better at wrapping presents, but it'll calm my nerves slightly.**

**(If you see any grammatical errors or strange sentences, please tell me about them. I don't have a beta so it's all very sloppy work here, sorry.)**


	3. Day 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own TRC. CLAMP does a better job owning TRC than I ever would.**

**Summary: The second princess visits, and Kurogane reprimands an incompetent captain.**

**Warnings: Implied, hi-i'm-whacking-you-with-a-neon-pink-stick pairings. Sort of SakuSyao-centric, with (way more explicit) KuroFai on the side. Because who doesn't love KuroFai? Mentioned Douwata, Shougo with Primera, and Sorata gushing over Arashi. I guess you could call this an AU. This is CLAMP, so yaoi/ shounen-ai. Might have what some consider to be suggestive themes in certain chapters.**

* * *

><p>It was at an obscenely early hour of the morning that the archbishop waltzed in through the cell door, completely unfazed by the muck and stale air of the dungeons. Sakura, upon hearing the swish of robes and the quiet scuff of the man's formal shoes resounding from down the hall, had awoken and sat herself up, sniffling slightly from the humidity of the room.<p>

"Syaoran~!"

Syaoran wondered how _anyone_ could be so cheerly so early in the morning.

"Archbishop Fai," he greeted seriously, "What are you doing here so early in the morning, m'lord?"

Fai pouted at the formality.

"Syaoran," he chided, wagging a finger disapprovingly at the boy, "for the last time, Fai is fine. Please don't be saying 'm'lord' this, 'm'lord' that, I've had enough of all that rubbish!"

Sakura giggled and the blonde brought his attention to her. Smiling kindly, he lifted the front of his robes out of the way and crouched to speak with her face-to-face.

"Hello," he greeted her, in a manner less exuberant and more gentle, "I'm Fai, it's nice to meet you."

Sakura smiled a warm close-eyed smile and grasped one of the archbishop's pale hands with both of her own.

"It's nice to meet you too, Fai san. I'm Sakura."

The young guard grinned fondly at her trusting friendliness as Fai placed his other hand over hers, chatting softly with her for a short moment. She seemed so familiar with everyone, seeming to immediately trust and warm up to whoever she met thus far. He was broken from his thoughts as Fai rose smoothly, running a hand down the front of his robes even though they were as immaculate as ever; sometimes Syaoran felt that it had to be magic.

"Before I forget what I came here for, Primera has caught that cold that's been going around, so Shougo isn't coming in today," the blonde looked pretty worried and Syaoran smiled at that. He was always so kind to everyone, "do you mind taking an extra hour while I try to find someone to take the day shift?"

Fai tugged at his collar distressedly, the large sapphire holding it closed catching the light as he ran a hair through almost artistically tousled hair. Syaoran suddenly felt a great sense of respect, and guilt, towards the man. As the archbishop and one of the king's most trusted advisors, he most likely busy enough governing the runnings of both the state as well as the church. But here he was, still trying to sort of these mundane housekeeping affairs out of the kindness of his heart. No wonder he was up so early, he probably had to go for court later.

He resolved to find the lazy man who was supposed to be doing all this and give him a good telling off. A lord of Fai's position ought not to be covering for an incompetent captain.

"It's okay, I'll take the day shift."

Fai blinked, surprise quickly shifting into concern.

"Are you sure? You already took the night shift! You shouldn't overwork yourself just for my convenience..."

Syaoran bit back the impulse to tell the archbishop to take his own advice.

"Yes, I'm very sure," he insisted, "You go ahead and get some rest before going to court. It's much too early for _anyone_ to be up and about."

Fai frowned and seemed about to protest but was cut off by Sakura.

"Syaoran-kun is right, Fai-san," she said, the gentle worry in her voice as good as a slap in the face, "You must rest." After a moment of surprise at her concern, wide blue eyes softened into a sorrowful smile as the blonde bent over and reached out to place a hand lightly on her head.

"Thank you, Sakura," he murmured, somewhat sadly, "You're just like my princess, kind and warm."

Sakura smiled and brushed her fingertips over his pale cheeks.

"It's only because you are the kindest person I know, Fai-san."

* * *

><p>The second princess came at around midday, her knight tagging along looking perpetually disgruntled.<p>

Syaoran had been half-dozing, head lolling against his chest as he murmured delirious sounding nonsense in an effort to prevent his charge from feeling lonely. Sakura patted his hand reassuringly as he slumped forward against his knees. He snapped sharply awake as the key turned in the lock with a loud echoing click.

"Kid," Kurogane said, nodding to him in greeting.

Tomoyo was a little more enthusiastic in her greeting.

"Oh," she said, violet eyes widening fractionally as she made eye contact with Sakura, "Oh my word."

"Tomoyo?"

The princess pointedly ignored Kurogane's concern, rushing excitedly forward to kneel by Sakura with a delighted squeal.

"Oh _my_, aren't you the cutest little thing?" she gushed happily, all but sparkling in the musty cell, "I'm Tomoyo! But you already knew that didn't you?"

Sakura nodded an affirmative.

"Hello, Your Highness. I'm Sakura."

Tomoyo waved her hand in the air dismissively,

"There's no need for all that, just call me Tomoyo. Is that all right with you?"

"Of course, Tomoyo-chan," said Sakura, smiling, "Nice to meet you."

Kurogane gave Sakura a sympathetic look as Tomoyo happily began to chatter, and moved to stand beside Syaoran.

"I thought you took the night shift?" he asked in a low voice, "Why are you still here?"

"Primera is sick, Shougo could not make it today," Syaoran replied quietly, "I took the day shift so the archbishop need not run around looking for someone to take it. It's not really his job anyway." He hesitated, wondering if it would be out of place for him to say what he was about to say next.

"I...think he's overworking himself."

The knight cocked an eyebrow at his student's expectant look.

"Why the hell are you telling me?" he folded his arms and settled comfortably against the door, "I'm not his keeper." He scooted over some to make space for Syaoran. The brunette collapsed tiredly against cold steel; the muck-covered walls were definitely not ideal for leaning especially now that he had surrendered his cloak to Sakura.

"Well, I just thought that if there was anyone who could do something about, it'd be you."

Kurogane scoffed, keeping an apathetic eye in the general direction of the two girls.

"Like I said, I'm not his keeper."

The boy was about to pursue the matter when he noticed the look in his teacher's blood-red eyes. Despite his outwardly uncaring demeanor, there was a hard edge of something like determination lending a flinty hardness to his gaze. Undertones of concern and worry manifested in an irritated purse of his lips, and Syaoran leaned back against the door, turning to watch Sakura.

"But of course," he conceded docilely, and knew that everything would be alright now.

* * *

><p>A hand slammed onto the table, collapsing the precariously balanced tower of cards atop it.<p>

"Good afternoon."

The captain shot up, glaring at the man across his desk.

"What do you think you're doing? Can't you see I'm the captain around here?"

The tanned stranger strolled around the table with a slow slinking gait, trailing unexpectedly aristocratic fingers over the smooth wood. He was handsome; his long narrow nose, strong jaw and his half-lidded eyes—lowered to the wooden surface of the table—gave him an uncommon look of regality. He wore a rich black cloak, embroidered in silver at hem and collar, which fell seamlessly to conceal his broad-shouldered form.

"I've heard you haven't been doing your job, _captain," _before he could even blink, the man had drawn a sword from beneath his cloak, dealing a stunning blow to the gut with its hilt. The captain staggered back, falling heavily onto his ass with a low 'oomph!', "I came to see what the problem was."

He leapt to his feet, rage lending a feral ferocity to his features.

"You uneducated brute!" he spat, "Do you _know_ who I am_?_"

The stranger sheathed his sword in a single smooth motion, inclining his head ever so slightly and cocking an eyebrow, a look of boredom on his tanned face.

"My father's the governor of Old Halynshire! He'll have your skin once he hears of this!"

"Ah, yes," said the man smoothly, "The governor's son. I've heard all about him: a corrupted old man who steals maidens off the streets and has his thugs beat their brothers and fathers up."

"You—!" the captain snarled and lunged at him, determined to pound him into oblivion. The stranger neatly sidestepped and used the momentum of his charge to toss him easily into the wall. He staggered upright and glared, "Well what are you going to do about it? A worthless peasant like you will never be able to do anything against my father!"

The man dusted himself off, lip curling in disgust.

"Useless, the pair of you. I've heard all about you both, I definitely know who _you_ are," so fast that he almost couldn't see him move, the man was suddenly in front of him, pressing his sheathed blade painfully into the other's throat, "But do you know who _I _am?"

"You're obviously another one of those stupid commoners. My father's going to—"

The captain paused in his livid rant as he looked down at the scabbard against his throat. It was undoubtedly a fine one, all rich black wood with ivory embellishments, gold and silver vines weaving intricately up the sides. But what really caught his eye was the ornate emblem right below the hilt, laced with rubies and diamonds and embedded with mother-of-pearl.

A red crescent moon twined elaborately into a coat of arms.

Kurogane smirked wickedly as he paled.

"I—you—" he spluttered in disbelief, "you're—"

"You're fired, captain."

* * *

><p>It was late, and Sakura was somewhat lonely.<p>

Syaoran had already left, staggering out of the cell door, already half-asleep. She felt a pang of mingled guilt and worry at the thought; she certainly hoped he wouldn't fall ill because of that. While the new guard was nice enough, staying inside to make sure she wasn't scared or anything, he was awfully quiet. The guard was a silent man, tall and tanned with striking features, who went by the name of Doumeki Shizuka.

Doumeki himself was rather bored. Then again, life in general was a pretty uninteresting thing. There was, of course, an exception: one that had recently crashed its way into his life, shouting and flailing indignantly. The corners of his lips strained upwards at the thought, _that_ was pretty entertaining. He tensed as the door opened, on guard; This newcomer hadn't made a sound coming down the hallway, and that was suspicious.

"Syaoran-kun?"

Squinting against the light, he realized Sakura was right. Syaoran had changed out of his uniform and was now wearing a brown traveling robe that completely obscured his body from sight. The hood was down, and his face was hardened with a strange solemn determination; that softened as he met Sakura's gaze.

"Princess," he murmured, kneeling down in front of her and grasping one of her hands in both of his. He pressed his forehead to the back of her hand, just like a knight might do to his princess, and Doumeki thought it was pretty amazing how close they seemed after barely a day and a half, that was how long they'd known each other after all. The tenderness with which Syaoran treated her was highly appropriate for the affectionate nickname. He was the epitome of a perfect gentleman around her: always kind, always gentle, always considerate, no obscenities or crude language so to speak of.

The guard retreated to the outside of the cell. Although he knew they weren't really involved, it still felt like an invasion of privacy to be standing there while they spoke so tenderly to one another. They had a very sweet sort of relationship, filled with sweet words, and sweet smiles, and sweet glances. It was all very sweet. Doumeki found his thoughts drifting to messy black hair and furious, mismatched eyes. It really _was _awfully entertaining to watch pale skin flushing with frustration, eyes flashing angrily as he raised his voice and flailed in exasperation. _H__e_ wasn't sweet at all. But that was okay, Doumeki liked him better that way.

He was broken from his thoughts as Kurogane came striding down the corridor, armor glinting silver through the slit in his black cloak. The slit cut down from his right shoulder rather than the middle—as most cloaks normally did—and had a clasp already sewn in, unlike the irritating cloaks that came with the guard's uniform (he often wondered what the designer had been thinking). Doumeki suspected it was another of Tomoyo's designs; she treated her knight like her own living breathing doll. The knight nodded to him in greeting and Doumeki acknowledged his greeting with a polite tilt of the head.

"Sir Kurogane," he greeted quietly, turning to unlock the cell door, "What brings you here?"

The door swung inwards with a sound not unlike that of long nails against a chalkboard.

"Business."

Doumeki shrugged and held the door open for the knight. If he wasn't about to tell, it was none of his business.

"Kid."

Syaoran rose, surprise evident on his face, "Kurogane-san? What are you doing here?"

Kurogane sighed.

"What?" he asked dryly, "I can't even visit my own dungeons now? Why's everyone asking that?"

"No—it's just that—I—"

Syaoran fell silent as his teacher held up a hand.

"We're moving—Sakura, was it?—we're moving her up into the prison holdings; Tomoyo's orders."

"Oh," said Syaoran, looking thoughtful, "It'll be better there, won't it? But... I might not be able to find my way there afterwards..."

His last sentence was merely a murmur, as he were talking to himself.

"It's not like you don't know where it is, kid," Kurogane said bemusedly, raising a brow, "You work here, remember?"

Syaoran started.

"No,no! It's just that—um..." He paused, biting his lip, then blurted out really quickly, "I always take the dungeons, so I don't think I'll be taking my princess' cell, will I?"

"Princess?"

Syaoran turned red.

"It's a nickname," interjected Doumeki (strange, he didn't think Syaoran was assigned to the dungeons _that_ often), "Kanio calls her that too."

The knight raised his other eyebrow, but did not otherwise comment.

"Well," he said, "You both can help me move her to the hold. I suppose you can politely ask Doumeki to assign you to her cell; that's the other reason I'm here."

Kurogane turned and clapped a hand onto the guard's shoulder, who was still processing his words.

"After this shift, you can move yourself over to the captain's office," the man smirked, "You've just been promoted."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well, this chapter is way shorter than the last, which is why I actually managed to post so quickly. I forgot to mention the last chapter, but Kanio is actually the bad-guy from Hanshin Republic. There are no OCs in this story, because I don't do well with them. The captain is supposed to be the Ryanban's son from Koryo. Even the veiled princess isn't an OC, but you'll just have to guess who she is because I won't tell until the last chapter. And just to clarify, I realize that knights are actually quite low in the palace hierarchy, but Kurogane is adifferent sort I guess. In a way, the 'personal knights' like Kurogane have a higher standing, I'd imagine about that of a general.**

**On a side note, I hadn't realized how dire my lack of clothes was until I was about to go out to buy more. I only have two pairs of jeans, one pair of cargos, a pair of sweatpants and a tonne of shirts in varying levels of formality. So, although my wardrobe is full of shirts, I am completely pantsless! I didn't notice before because my home attire when no one is home consists of a very long shirt, and no pants. My parents are still in China (I came back first. My dad's there for work and my mom and I tagged along) so I couldn't order them out to buy me some. In the end, I had a very good friend of mine deliver some pants to my place, but I live in an apartment building where you need a resident's lift-access key to use the lift so I had to go down in my mom's bathrobe to pick it up. There were these little old ladies staring at me as I walked across the lobby in that over-large bathrobe.**

**Ahem, personal life over and done with, I hopefully should be able to get the next chapter out by Thursday/Friday. I actually thought THIS chapter would be out then, but then I realized how short it was! Also, since I was stranded pantsless in my own home, I couldn't go out to do what I said I needed to do and thus had a lot of time to be writing. I'll probably also have a one-shot out for Christmas (it's already finished but I promised myself I'd only post it on Christmas morning before going for my cousin's Christmas party) but it's KuroFai, sorry SakuSyao readers. As I have said before, I'm mainly a Kurofai shipper. I think that may be the reason why the Kurofai in this story is a lot more explicit and less implied than the SakuSyao, not now I mean, but by the end of the story.**

**My notes are always so long, so I'll just end off here. I think I must be boring you people to tears.**

**Again, please review! You have no idea how stupidly ecstatic even a 'Hi' would make me.**


	4. Day 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own TRC. CLAMP does a better job owning TRC than I ever would.**

**Summary: Syaoran meets the first princess, and she introduces herself to Sakura. Meanwhile, the good king lashes out at his family, which leads into some fanservice for Kurofai fangirls. Finally, a stressed Fai pledges his help to his precious princess.**

**Warnings: Implied, hi-i'm-whacking-you-with-a-neon-pink-stick pairings. Sort of SakuSyao-centric, with (way more explicit) KuroFai on the side. Because who doesn't love KuroFai? Mentioned Douwata, Shougo with Primera, and Sorata gushing over Arashi. I guess you could call this an AU. This is CLAMP, so yaoi/ shounen-ai. Might have what some consider to be suggestive themes in certain chapters.**

* * *

><p>A black-haired man (though he looked more to be in his late teens, like Doumeki) came to the cell in the morning. A basket of what smelled tantalizingly like food hung from his arm, which he thrust at Doumeki with a furious scowl on his face, blue-gold eyes flashing dangerously. Sakura had been moved to a new cell, slightly aways from the palace. It wasn't in the usual hold with all the other cells, instead it was a private little cell on the second floor of a tiny, two-floored prison tower. It was the only cell in the entire building, and it was a lot cleaner than the ones in the dungeon.<p>

"Breakfast," he snapped shortly, "and don't think I'm doing this for you! Yuuko sent me."

Sakura lowered her gaze to his uniform—a simple burgundy tunic embroidered with golden thread, matched with cream linen pants—and recognized it as that of the castle staff; she'd seen it while she was being marched out of the dungeons and through the palace the night before.

"Is Yuuko-san part of the housekeeping staff as well?"

Both men turned to look at her, and she suddenly felt uncomfortable drawing attention to herself.

"No," said Doumeki, "Yuuko owns the largest chain of whorehouses down in the city."

The pale man with the mismatched eyes nodded, looking disgruntled.

"I owe her a favor, so she has me do her bidding every once in a while," he hesitated, then held a hand out to her, "I'm Watanuki, head of castle housekeeping."

Sakura smiled and shook his hand.

"I'm Sakura," she said, "Just Sakura. It's nice to meet you, Watanuki-kun."

Watanuki smiled kindly at her.

"You aren't like a witch at all," he murmured, "The servants really can spin such ridiculous rumors."

"Oh no, no," Sakura corrected quickly. "I _am_ a witch."

Both men's eyebrows shot up.

"Oh?"

Sakura backtracked.

"No, I mean they _say_ I'm a witch," she corrected again hastily, "I still don't know why, but I'll find out when they trial me today."

Watanuki's blue-gold eyes widened, "You're being trialled today?"

"Yeah. I'll be bringing her to the high court in a bit," Doumeki added monotonously, munching apathetically on a piece of bread, "It's a pretty big case, the archbishop himself is judging the trial."

"Lord Fai?" asked Watanuki, looking surprised and thoughtful. He suddenly turned bright red, a scowl furrowing his delicate features, "And don't talk with your mouth full, you _brute! _Can't you see Sakura is here? How rude... And a 'thank you' would be nice, you know?" Doumeki only gave a noncommittal 'hnn' in response, and popped some cheese into his mouth thoughtfully.

"I want chicken pasta with cream sauce for lunch."

Sakura was given the impression that Doumeki did it simply to get a rise out of the head of housekeeping. Watanuki flushed red and started flailing his arms around in a manner most entertaining, yelling and cursing at the guard. Sakura giggled at his antics, and at the veiled amusement in the stoic guard's golden eyes; he looked almost smug.

The vigorous jingling of chain-mail heralded Kanio's arrival as he came dashing up around the spiral staircase. Catching sight of Sakura, he smiled goofily and slowed down to unlock the barred cell and kneel on the straw-covered floor.

"Good morning, Princess," he greeted dotingly, "Have you had breakfast?"

Sakura shook her head no, and Kanio pulled a small bundle out of his tunic, pressing it into Sakura's comparatively tiny hands. Unknotting the checkered handkerchief curiously, the homey smell of freshly baked bread wafted lazily out. Inside was a single roll of bread, and some cheese.

"I'm sorry I couldn't snitch some more off the table," he apologized in a soft, tender tone, "I swiped this after I heard that your trial had been moved earlier in the morning, so you probably wouldn't be having breakfast."

Sakura blinked.

"My...my trial has been moved?"

* * *

><p>Syaoran hurried along the courtyard, wiping the sweat away from his eyes. He had to make haste if he wanted to see Sakura before her trial. He had to see her, had to reassure her and make sure she wasn't scared, or lonely.<p>

There was movement in the tree above him, a rustling of pink blossoms in the big, sturdy cherry blossom that spread its strong limbs almost into the chambers above. A small shower of baby-soft petals flitted gently down around him. This specific courtyard was a lot different from the usual ones in the palace; instead of the usual marble walkways and shapely pillars holding up heavy ceilings, the walkways in this one were uncovered, and a whole row of beautifully blooming cherry blossom trees lined the cobblestone path. He'd heard of this wing, the peaceful area of the palace where the imported Japanese blossoms seemed to be blooming all year round, yet rarely did anyone but the maids come here to admire the startlingly pink blossoms. Syaoran had never passed through here before—he'd never had reason to—but he suspected it belonged to someone, thus the personal touch; the wing that belonged to Fai had latticed pine roofs over the courtyard paths, white winter flowers creeping along the latticework, vines draping down over the sides and swaying lazily in the breeze. As with this one, the visitors usually stayed out of his wing, though the landscape really _was_ exceptionally beautiful in the winter months.

Syaoran stopped for a moment, wondering if he ought to continue rushing ahead, or stop to investigate the matter. On one hand, he hadn't expected the change in timing and was _horrendously _late. On the other, it could be an assassin trying to get into the castle for all he knew and, if his earlier speculations were right, the king would be furious. A _snap_ of strained wood giving way and a loud squeal later, the decision was taken out of his hands. Or rather, the decision was dropped into his arms as he found them suddenly full of soft flesh and silver Chinese silk, blossoms embroidered in shimmery pink hues. The scent of cherry blossoms filled his nostrils and he blinked stupidly, still trying to figure out what had just happened.

There had been movement in the tree above him. Yes, that had happened. And then... A branch had snapped. Now there was a very flustered young girl in his arms. She was light, as her petite form hinted at, and a shimmery veil obscured her face from view. A satin ribbon ran over the veil and around her head like a headband, an obscenely large ruby dangling in the middle of her forehead—it was slightly askew.

"I—I beg your pardon, good sir."

"Oh," and he blinked again, "It's quite alright."

An awkward pause.

"Were you in the tree?"

The girl squirmed in embarrassment and Syaoran would have slapped himself if his arms hadn't been otherwise occupied at that moment. _What a stupid question._

"Why, yes," she said uncomfortably. "I was, ah, trying to get out from the castle unnoticed."

Another awkward silence. What could he possibly say to that?

"Erm, pardon me," said the girl softly and uncertainly, "you can put me down now."

Syaoran flushed as red as the ruby on her veiled forehead, and hastily set the girl back on her finely slippered feet. She daintily brushed down the front of her dress, and the boy absently realized that she must be a noble to be wearing such fine clothing. And that veil; only a noble lady would still be carrying out that ancient practice.

Then Fai came sprinting out of the castle and down the walkway across the courtyard, fastening the sapphire clasp of his collar. He skidded to a halt as he spotted them, mesmerizing eyes wide in surprise, obviously rushing for the trial as he dressed. _And he was still as immaculate as ever_. Syaoran was now almost certain that it was magic. It was simply _not human_ to look so pristine, especially when one was dressing while rushing down the hallway from an appointment unexpectedly shifted forward.

"Syaoran?"

It was then that the guard realized that the girl had shifted ever so slightly, so that the large tree was hiding her from view.

"Lord Fai."

It was evidence just how much of a hurry the archbishop was in that he didn't protest the formality.

"Why, Syaoran, whatever might you be doing _here_ of all places?" he asked, shooting a brief look about the courtyard.

"Oh," the brunette said, perhaps he was not allowed in this wing? "I just finished training and wanted to see Sakura before her trial."

The girl stiffened minutely out of the corner of his eye at the mention of Sakura's name, turning slightly towards him. He ignored her and brought his attention to the blonde; she seemed reluctant to alert the blonde to her presence, in any case.

"Are you going for the trial now?"

"What?" asked the archbishop distractedly, tugging at his collar, "Oh, no, no, no. I have to see Primera before the trial, but I hadn't expected the trial to be moved forward so abruptly so I _really_ need to make haste."

He held up a small bundle of what had to be herbs, judging from the the distinct medicinal scent floating down-wind on the breeze. As the ethereal figure waved in farewell and turned to dash down the opposite hallway, Syaoran suddenly remembered something.

"Wait, your highness!" he called, unfastening his cloak and tossing the brooch across the small courtyard to the blonde, "It's Shougo's. He lent it to me because I lost mine. Please thank him for me."

Fai snatched the songbird out of the air without turning, and Syaoran was reminded with a start that the archbishop was a scarily competent fighter for a man of the church; he was a prince, after all. The blonde yelled a quick 'okay' as he resumed his mad sprint down the stone path, disappearing around the corner as quickly as he had come. He turned back to the girl, his cloak folded over his arm; the thing really was an impractical piece of annoying protocol. She looked thoughtfully at the cloth for a moment, then she reached into the folds of her dress and held out something enclosed in her small fist.

"Here," she said, "Take it as thanks for catching me."

Syaoran's protest was cut off by a muffled call from within the chambers above.

"Princess? _Princess?"_ the voice called frantically, "Where are you, your highness? It's time for your mathematical studies!" The girl seemed to jump out of her skin, letting out a panicked squeak. Grabbing his hand, she pressed something small into his palm, closing his fingers around it.

"I have to go. Perhaps I'll see you around here sometime?"

And then she was gone, lifting her skirts as she scurried off around the corner.

Was that...?

He uncurled his fingers from around cold metal, lowering his gaze to the object the girl had given him. He started. It was a finely crafted cloak fastener, ivory rimmed in diamonds with sparkling rubies forming a strange pattern over the white, set in the finest of fine golds.

It was the emblem of the first princess.

* * *

><p>It had been a frankly <em>horrible <em>trial.

There was no basis on which he could charge the girl, and her wide green eyes had only made him even guiltier to be putting her through it. And to top it all off, the king had still refused to disclose the reason behind his arresting her, even when he'd told him that it would help with the trial. He'd locked himself into his chambers and refused to meet with any of his advisors, telling Fai to 'handle all state matters'. The court was in chaos: the nobles were demanding an answer, the other advisors were in shock. Ashura was a responsible, _fair_ king who was adored by the general populace, and he had _never_ done such a thing before. The blonde sighed. _Well._ If the other advisors were not going to do anything, administrative responsibilities fell to him as the only male royal currently within the palace walls. He turned his attention back to the papers on his desk, he had no time to be thinking about things already past when he had much more important things to be thinking about. Such as the bandits that had ambushed a noble's carriage going up the mountain. He made a mental note to visit the man later, the man had suffered quite a fright. But the real problem was with the rogues up in the mountains: perhaps he could send a few troops to deal with them. Or would a reward for taking them down be better? Less manpower and less paperwork, definitely.

On a side note, the price of steel was going up; a bridge on the outskirts of the capital had collapsed, holding up trade wagons (someone had to go take charge of the reconstruction project, and redirect traffic). The military budget definitely had to be reconsidered at the assembly tomorrow, especially with the small war they were waging against the pirates hiding in the deep network of caves down by the sea. He registered the large double-doors of his office opening and closing silently, but pointedly ignored the newcomer; whoever it was would get the message.

"Oi."

Or apparently not. He brought his attention back to the next letter in the stack: speaking of pirates, they'd attacked a ship of foreign ambassadors off the eastern coasts. Someone had to take damage control, and he'd have to placate the furious emissaries. They'd probably ask for compensation, the greedy bastards. Fai would definitely have to prepare some gifts, maybe some finely hand-painted porcelain vases and those _delightful_ shibayama lacquered boxes? Time for another visit to the wisely old potter and her brilliant little carpenter of a granddaughter, down beside Yuuko's whorehouse; the two women got along like fortune-tellers over tea leaves.

"_Oi."_

Fai finally indulged the persistent visitor with an absent "hmm?"—the man _was _his favorite, after all—and continued leafing through the stack of official-looking papers as he chewed on his feather-tipped quill. Kurogane closed his eyes and counted to ten slowly in his head (he stopped at three, too impatient to reach all the way to ten) and leaned forward, slamming his large hands on the table from behind the blonde, one hand on either side of the archbishop's deceptively frail frame.

"Oi," he repeated once more into a pale ear, "_Bishop._"

Fai finally reacted in full, leaning slowly back in his seat and placing the chewed-out quill into an ornate inkwell—it had been a gift from Kohane. He'd been very much touched; he knew how much time went into those detailed inlays—with a soft sigh.

"Yes, Kuro-puppy?"

Kurogane jerked violently at the nickname, grimacing in horror. Kuro-knight was alright, and even Kuro-grump was tolerable. But Kuro-_puppy?_

"Why am I a puppy now?"

The blonde let out a long breath, resting his elbows on the cushioned rests of his chair and weaving his pianist's fingered together under his pleasingly tapered chin, "because you're clamoring for my attention like a stubborn little puppy."

Kurogane tried, and failed, to bite down a growl.

"I didn't come here to argue about this."

Fai continued to stare ahead in forced apathy; he seemed to be in a terribly irritable mood, even if he was trying his hardest to suppress it.

"Well then, what _did_ you come here for?"

Kurogane leaned in closer, till he could feel a few flyaway blonde strands tickling against his cheek, "Syaoran said you've been managing the guard recently."

"So?"

"So," the knight mimicked in a low voice, "Stop it. S'not your job. Just do what you got to do."

"_Well,"_ the archbishop said, _very_ patiently, "Since there isn't anyone doing it, someone has to do it."

Kurogane let out a breath, suppressing a smirk when Fai shivered at the hot breath ghosting over the tip of his ear, and informed him just as patiently, "I replaced the idiotic captain who was having the archbishop do his job. You leave the matter alone now, and just focus on what you're supposed to be doing. You're going to kill yourself one day."

Fai closed his eyes and turned his face slightly towards into knight's comforting presence, so slightly that Kurogane probably would not have noticed the minute movement.

"Why, Kuro-bossy," he murmured, an exhausted parody of his usual teasing, "I knew you cared."

"Care?" Kurogane scoffed, "If you weren't managing state affairs in Ashura's place, I wouldn't say a damned thing even if you worked yourself to death. This is just duty."

"Well," the blonde replied tiredly, eyes still closed, "Then you'd best remove your hands from my desk, ought you not? Anyone walking in on us would mistake _duty_, for _caring_."

Kurogane immediately jerked away, as if burnt, scowling furiously at Fai as he stormed around the desk, and back out of the doors, red-faced.

A small smile, weary though affectionate, finally wormed its way onto the archbishop's face, and allowed himself a moment to think dangerous thoughts before he shut them firmly away again—he daren't dream so, not in the light of the day—and turned his attention back to the papers in front of him.

* * *

><p>The door locked behind them. Syaoran lay out the cloak he had left two nights ago on a particularly soft patch of straw, holding Kurogane's cloak over his arm. Sakura gathered her skirts—today, an inappropriately expensive-looking slip of white muslin that Tomoyo had gleefully dressed her in that morning—and sat down on the cloak he had laid out for her, scooting over to make space for him. Syaoran sat, arranging his cloak so that he wouldn't sit on it and choke himself; he'd done that once during training, and swore he'd <em>never<em> seen his mentor laugh so boisterously in all the time he'd known him.

"So how was the trial?"

Sakura turned and leaned her back into his arm, tilting her head back onto his shoulder as she closed her eyes.

"It was alright," she said softly, "They couldn't find much so they're extending the trial. I'm going again tomorrow."

"I see," Syaoran shifted so that the hard bone of his shoulder wouldn't poke painfully into her between her shoulder blades, cushioning her back in the fleshy curve where his arm connected to his torso, "Archbishop Fai looked really guilty when you all left the room."

The young girl gave a sad little "hmm" in reply, shoulders drooping sorrowfully, simply saying, "Fai-san always blames himself for things that aren't his fault."

She turned her head as if to look at him before she elaborated further, but stopped abruptly.

"You got a new clasp."

Syaoran looked down at the newly acquired brooch.

"Yes," he said, "Yes, I have."

"It's beautiful," said Sakura, staring at the ornament with an unsettling intensity, "What an...interesting design."

"The princess gave it to me," the boy told her, slightly bemusedly, "But not Princess Tomoyo, the first princess. It's her emblem."

Sakura's eyebrows shot up at that, and she stared at him with wide eyes, mousy brows furrowed just so.

"The first princess?"

"Eh," said Syaoran, confused by the girl's strange interest in the ornament, "I caught her when she fell from a tree today, so she gave it to me as thanks."

A pause.

"What's her name?"

The guard frowned.

"No one knows, it's tradition."

At Sakura's questioning look, he elaborated, "In very high nobility, the ladies are veiled and their names kept secret until their fourteenth birthdays," he explained, "However, for royalty, the king will organize a grand public ceremony for the unveiling, and the princess will knight someone to be her personal protector."

"Oh," she said, processing the information, "Then Kurogane-san is Tomoyo-chan's personal protector?"

"Yes," Syaoran affirmed, "It's a very high honor to be chosen as a personal knights. Normal knights are good men who are given a rank just below a baronet, in reward for their services, because they wouldn't otherwise even be part of the court structure at all. Personal knights, however, don't really seem to be a part of the whole hierarchy; I guess you can say they are sort of like very senior nobility. But since they only answer to the royal family, I think they're kind of above those nobles as well. I suppose Sir isn't exactly an accurate title."

He brightened up considerably.

"Sir Kurogane is practically a military _legend!_" he told her enthusiastically, "Before he was knighted, he was an orphan from an old noble family and was brought into the palace. When he was younger, he went out to fight in the war as part of the army. But the general of his section was a traitor, and he sold them to the foreigners. He assembled the survivors and almost single-handedly kept them there until the reinforcements arrived. The traitor general died during that battle."

Syaoran looked somewhat bashful when he spoke next, words a muffled mumble.

"I'm really grateful that he chose someone like me as his apprentice."

Sakura was silent for a moment, digesting all that he had told her.

"So the princess is veiled," she confirmed slowly, "and no one know her name, nor what she looks like?"

He nodded, "Only the king knows, though I've heard rumors that Princess Tomoyo does as well. It's against tradition though."

Looking thoughtful, her gaze flicked quickly back to the brooch, before she flashed him a close-eyed smile, "I think you'd make a wonderful protector for the princess. Ne, Syaoran-kun?"

"_Eh?"_

The guard flushed at her words. Then he suddenly remembered her strange interest in the subject.

Was Sakura _jealous?_

A yelp and a loud clatter from below distracted Syaoran from the issue. He turned sharply around, eyes narrowed and ears perked. Though Sakura had been moved from the dungeons, the holding cell she was kept in was a high-security cell; it was meant to be patrolled by three guards at a time, two downstairs and one upstairs. However, they had been unable to find a replacement for Shougo, so the only guard downstairs was a somewhat oblivious guard named Masayoshi. Motioning to Sakura to remain silent, he unlocked the door and descended the stairs. He paused at the bottom of the stairs with wide eyes before rushing towards a fallen Masayoshi.

He was incredibly relieved to find him unconscious, and not dead. He then proceeded to cast a sweeping glance around the room for any hostile presences, and sensing nor seeing none, began to look for evidence of what could have happened. Syaoran only just fought back the urge to facepalm when he saw the broom that the other guard had tripped over; he kept telling him _not to leave things lying around!_

The brunette sighed and rose, easily lifting the boy and, toeing a chair away from the table, draped him gently over it.

The sound of slippered feet on the red-bricked path leading to the prison tower made him look up at the doorway. Kurogane took one glance at the situation and wrapped his hand around the hilt of his sword, dropping into a battle stance. His unsettling blood-red eyes flicked around the room as his entire intimidating presence seemed to wrap itself protectively around the small figure standing in front of him.

The guard's eyes widened in recognition.

"First princess!"

The princess raised a hand to her chest, surprised.

"It's you."

Syaoran decided to put his mentor at ease first.

"It's alright, Sir Kurogane," he told the man, "Masayoshi tripped over a broom. I keep telling him not to leave things lying around."

Kurogane relaxed slightly, though he still seemed somewhat on guard.

"Kid, you know the princess?"

He fidgeted uncomfortably, remembering the circumstances surrounding their meeting.

"Ah, yes. I met her today while—" _she was climbing out of her window to skip her math classes, _"—I was passing through the courtyard."

"Sir Kurogane, do you know him?"

Kurogane turned to the veiled princess, looking down his nose at her with half-lidded eyes; Syaoran suspected he didn't know how intimidatingly regal that made him look—especially when one was looking _up_ into that expression of his—he otherwise probably wouldn't be giving such a look to the _princess._

"He's my apprentice."

If her eyes had been visible, they would probably have been widening.

"Oh," she said, before turning thoughtfully in his direction, "I beg your pardon again, I didn't quite catch your name."

"Syaoran," he said, "Nice to meet you again so soon, Princess. Thank you for the brooch."

The princess looked flustered.

"Oh, no, there's really no need to thank me," she said hastily, waving a hand dismissively, "I should be the one thank you, for catching me when I fell from that tree this morning."

"You were in a _tree?"_

Both Syaoran and the princess winced simultaneously, and the young brunette could have sworn he could see the glow of her blush even through the veil. Kurogane closed his eyes and sighed.

"Never mind," he said, "I don't want to know. Let's just go see the girl and get it done and over with."

And with that, he marched up the stairs ahead of them, and Syaoran ushered the princess up in front of him, sparing Masayoshi one last concerned glance before rounding the corner on the wooden spiral staircase.

"Bishop?"

Syaoran rounded the last corner of the spiral staircase, and sure enough, the strikingly pale shock of hair seemed to glow eerily in the dimly lit cell. The blonde looked distressed by their entrace, usual white formal regalia exchanged for a dark hooded robe. if the hood hadn't been down, he would have blended easily into the shadows that the night oh-so-conveniently provided.

"Kuro-rin? Syaoran-kun?"

"Fai?" came the soft voice of the veiled princess, "What are you doing here?"

"I...just wanted to talk to Sakura-chan," said the archbishop, "I'll just be going now."

The man stood and swept out of the open cell door like a specter, throwing his hood back up as he disappeared down the stairs.

"Fai doesn't seem like himself," whispered the princess sadly, "It as like he didn't even see me."

Kurogane placed a surprisingly gentle hand on her shoulder as the guard cast an eye around the second floor. He briefly wondered just _how _the blonde had gotten in without him noticing, and unlocked the cell door as well. But then again, Fai _was_ a pretty mysterious guy, and if anything, Syaoran knew never to underestimate him despite his apparent silliness; he had already had that painful reminder of his gross underestimation of the archbishop from that morning. The blonde cast about his airs of dreamy simplicity like a shield, and the brunette was pretty ashamed to admit that it worked like a charm every single time. The man was a dangerous fighter–he'd witnessed his deadly speed while sparring once and immediately revised his opinion that his mentor had to be the fastest in the kingdom, because beside Fai he obviously _wasn't_—and an even more dangerous courtier. He had a near uncanny knowledge of everything that was going on in everyone's minds, he always knew all the little schemes of the noble ladies and their noble husbands and could easily circumvent them with that same silly little laugh, as if he hadn't the faintest clue what he was doing. Then sometimes he had those dangerous little half-smiles, just like his usual goofy ones, except the sly knowledge in those little quirks of his lip were absolutely _terrifying_ when one actually _was_ up to something. If Syaoran ever _were_ plotting something, Fai would definitely be the first person he'd be tearing his hair out and suffering nervous breakdowns trying to get out of the way.

"You're the first princess?"

The guard broke from his reverie, and the collective attentions of the entire room was drawn to Sakura, still seated on Syaoran's cloak, emerald eyes innocently wide. The first princess gasped, and moved forward—compelled by shock and disbelief—to grasp the steel bars of the cell.

"Princess?"

She started.

"No, I'm alright. It's just that...Um..." the princess hesitated uncomfortably before continuing, "you remind me of a relative of mine."

"A relative?"

"Ah, yes," said the princess, looking increasingly uncomfortable, "A, um... deceased cousin."

Sakura looked apologetically horrified, "Oh, I'm so _sorry! _I shouldn't have pried."

Syaoran racked his brains for a deceased royal. He only knew of a prince out at war, maybe he had just died in battle? But that would put Fai directly in line for the throne—wouldn't it?— and Fai had not been named crown prince yet. That was the reason why he was still the archbishop.

"It's alright," the princess assured hastily, "A distant cousin. I was very young."

Oh, that explained why he couldn't remember; the princess looked to be his age.

"Still," said Sakura softly, "I'm terribly sorry. I never had a cousin, though I had a wonderful brother. I don't know how he is now though."

They had probably been separated in the bandit raid two years ago. Syaoran frowned. He remembered going out with Kurogane on august white stallions, wearing the white capes of Ashura's men, and the sobbing mothers throwing themselves at their feet crying, '_please, please bring back my baby'. _He could still remember the lamenting wives and the wailing children, still searching for their parents within the city walls; the capital was a large place—the size of some of the smaller foreign kingdoms—where things once lost, were hard to find again.

"I see," the princess said, looking thoughtful, "I wonder if I could speak with you for a moment."

A short pause.

The princess inclined her head at the two men politely.

"_Privately."_

* * *

><p>"Princess? Dear cousin, is everything alright?"<p>

"It _is _her, Tomoyo!" cried the princess, "It is, it is!"

"But...you sound so sure?"

"I know, I just do," the princess paced around the room, knotting her hands together and wringing them distressedly, "she is the one _that_ person spoke of."

Tomoyo hesitated, she had never seen her cousin so worked up.

"You place too much faith in my dreams, cousin."

"Tomoyo, I could feel it within me," asserted the princess, "It _is _her."

The veiled girl finally sat down on a cushioned seat with a loud huff, robes in complete disarray; there was no one here but her darling cousin, so why care?

The second princess slowly puzzled over her agitation, "But that isn't all, is it?"

The princess sighed.

"No it isn't," she whispered.

The snowy-skinned princess glided across the room, seating herself gracefully beside her cousin and peering worriedly into the veil.

"What has happened?"

The princess let out a breath and turned to press her veiled cheek against her cousin's velveted shoulder.

"I went to plead with Father."

_Oh. _Tomoyo wrapped her arms around her cousin, stroking the back of her neck soothingly.

"What did he say?"

The princess sniffled.

"He told me that a princess ought to stay out of state matters, and that he was doing everything for me," she paused, "then he told me to get out of his chambers."

Tomoyo closed her eyes. Her poor sensitive cousin.

The princess suddenly pulled away, grasping at her hands tightly as she peered closely into her cousin's face through her veil.

"We have to do something," she whispered, "_She must not be burnt_."

Tomoyo was about to reply when a muffled voice outside interrupted her.

"Your Highness!"

It was one of her own personal staff, one that she was particularly fond of, a trustworthy young chambermaid named Himawari.

"Hello, Himawari~!" came Fai's cheerful voice, lilting melodically, "Is that for Tomoyo? I'll bring it in, I was just about to go in anyway!"

A clatter of fine china and the door opened amidst the maid's protests.

"No, no, it's alright," insisted Fai with a silly grin on his face, laughing jovially, "You go on ahead, why don't you?"

And closed the door before Himawari could protest further.

"Little princess!" he said—his usual nickname for the veiled one—eyes widening as he stopped mid-bounce, "what are you doing here?"

Tomoyo wasn't fooled.

(Or rather, she wasn't going to take the chance.)

"How much did you hear?"

"Eh? Tomoyo," he said blankly, so blankly that Tomoyo almost wanted to drop it; but there was just _too much at stake_, "What are you talking about?"

"I know you were standing outside."

Now, she was _praying _that he had actually been standing outside, lest she look like a paranoid fool.

"Tomoyo, maybe Fai was just—"

The first princess was cut off by Fai's resigned sigh—he had always had a soft spot for the girl.

"No, Tomoyo's right, my princess. I was standing outside."

There was an awkward pause wherein Tomoyo felt torn between a body-sagging _relief_ and also a heart-stopping _horror._

"Then you can help us!" the princess exclaimed, tugging on the hem of Fai's robes. She had always been a little too trusting to be a proper court lady.

"Cousin—"

"No, really! Fai, you're trialling her, aren't you?"

Fai sighed and set down the tea-tray on the low table, settling against the cushions across from the princess and folding his legs neatly under him. Without his smile, she noticed for the first time that he was looking rather haggard.

"It's not so simple, Princess."

The princess visibly drooped.

"But...why not?"

The blonde winced at the princess' crestfallen expression, and Tomoyo picked up the conversation for him. Perhaps her cousin's unthinking trust in him wasn't unjustified at all; the crown prince _had_ always said that Fai spoilt her rotten.

"Because the king has ordered him to find Sakura guilty at all costs. He does not wish to have her burnt either, my cousin," she said softly, she placed a hand on Fai's knee as she continued, "we mustn't make things difficult for Fai."

Tomoyo's violet eyes closed as she offered the archbishop an understanding smile; nervous that he would possibly see the intent in her eye. The princess, predictably, was stricken, even though she tried bravely to hide it from him, "it—it's alright, Fai. I understand. Please, please don't blame yourself."

Fai immediately caved.

"I will try", he pledged softly, resignedly, "I cannot do much, but I promise I will at least _try _to save her from the fire."

Instantaneously, the veiled girl's entire demeanor seemed to light up with delight and joy. Tomoyo tried to hide her relief.

"Oh, but do you _really _mean that?"

The blonde paused, running through solutions in his head.

"I cannot find her guillty while under the king's orders," he said slowly, "So I must convince him to retract his order."

"Oh..." said the princess, speaking in a small, unsure voice, "but...won't he be mad at you?"

Fai smiled, a terrible close-eyed smile of resignation.

"I would do anything for you, my princess."

And Tomoyo began to wonder, with a belated dread, if perhaps she shouldn't have pushed him like that.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Okay, first of all shibayama is a style of very fine craft which consists of inlaying semi precious stones, tortoise shells, amber etc. laid into ivory or lacquer. Its quite an expensive thing that the Japanese crafted mainly for import to the west. And about Tomoyo, I'd always thought that she could quite the manipulative young lady apart from her sparkly CSS personality. Being manipulative is not necessarily a bad thing, but who can say whether she's made a rightly played move here. Well, fret not, I'll be telling you in the next chapter anyway (haha, fail attempt at being a tease) which I'll try to release on Monday. And why am I ahead of my self-assigned schedule _again?_ I didn't think it was possible to be irritated at oneself for updating too quickly. I feel obliged to inform you that it is now Wednesday 22:36 EST, and I am done. However, in a pitiful attempt to keep on schedule, I am going to wait three hours till it's Thursday 01:30 EST, to post the damn chapter. I think for you people in the US and wherenot, that'd be about 9:30 am on Wednesday. So I am still a day earlier than my set schedule, damn. That aside, I really have no idea how the hell to reply reviews, so I'm just going to do it here like so many authors seem so fond of doing.**

**Replies are unbolded, so you can skip them if you haven't reviewed and don't want to read my replies. Reviewers should also search for their name. Thanks for reviewing!**

HappyHam: Omg, you reviewed twice. You have no idea how loud I was _squeeing_ when I was checking to see if my new chapter had come out right, only to see that you'd already reviewed. Thank you so much. Replying to your first review, I guess you'll just have to wait and see if he'll be breaking her out ;). And yes, Watanuki is the very epitome of tsundere cuteness, I love his bipolarism around Doumeki. And you've _never _seen Hanshin Republic? It's the first world they went to with the kudans, and Shougo and Masayoshi-kun. Kanio was the fat dude with the glasses and the kudan like a freaking big spiky stingray. In the anime, there was an extra scene where Sakura woke up and he kidnapped her, but found her so innocent that he eventually let go of her and decided to earn an honest living. I don't really like the anime but that scene was pretty sweet, but Sakura was supposed to be half-dead until she got her next feather, so why is she suddenly alive and kicking? It sort of underplayed the direness of her situation, and the worry that Syaoran must have been feeling up until the point she saw him and asked 'Who are you?" That must have really been heart-breaking, worrying and worrying and worrying only to be painfully reminded in one fell blow that hey, she doesn't remember you.

**AND HERE I WILL COMMENCE MY MAD RANT ON WHY THE ANIME OFFENDS ME SO. SKIP AHEAD IF YOU'D LIKE.**

I normally don't support the anime (IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE MANGA GO DO SO) because they make the characters seem so flat. Syaoran just seems so...perfect I-will-do-anything-for-you gentleman but with no personality. Sakura was her dazed 'my soul has just been sucked out and scattered across the dimensions' self, but without the gradual consciousness leaking slowly back with every world, as in the manga. I hated that they couldn't properly illustrate Fai's knowing little half-smiles, and his moments of seriousness; Fai is _not _just a blithering idiot who is always smiling and who the audience is sometimes occasionally reminded of with cryptic hints that he is not quite that useless. And I seem to recall him being a lot less useless in the manga, he was all 'waiting-wife' material with Sakura for the most of the un-canon second season. The whole second season was _not_ in the manga, only Lecourt was. See up there, the whole part about Syaoran thinking about how terrifying Fai can be as a courtier, that's a little extreme but I'd like to think that the Fai of this AU is a little more _scary_ about it, considering that the people he is smiling that smile at are people with guilty consciences who _would _probably feel more frightened. And the anime made Kurogane so _juvenile, _he just didn't seem to grow up the way he did in the manga, and his face was so round-ish. THAT really broke my heart because I've always liked how dashing he looks in the manga, all half-lidded eyes and looooong nose. CLAMP art in TRC makes the adult characters all look so _regal_: just look at Yuuko, even in XxxHolic I swear she looks like a goddamned queen. Manga in general has ruined my life, now I will never get married because people in real life just _don't look so inhumanely good_. And am I the only freak who's upset with the anime? What was with the Chii-Fai episode? If you're against same-sex pairings, Bee Train, don't choose a shounen-ai project and try to put the guy with a girl who, by the way, is already attached to Hideki! I'm currently somewhere at the beginning of Chobits, and their relationship is so sweet that, combined with my kurofai-fangirlism, made me feel _so insulted _when I saw that episode.

**END RANT**

CoolVibration: Haha, thank you very much for your kind compliments. Honestly speaking, I've written a lot of fiction, just never published them. This one is actually one of my later ones I think, I was writing for CCS before that. Perhaps one day I'll touch up the better of my old works and publish them, but I'm sorry to disappoint in a sense that this is a very big exception to my normal writings. I normally write as the majority of writers in this fandom do: Kurofai with side of SakuSyao. However, I must agree that there is a lack of SakuSyao-centric fics in TRC, if you really do want some of those, you should try CCS instead. But Syaoran's personality is a little more bratty there, and Sakura is the way she should have been before her feathers were scattered, all spunk and cheer. If you haven't read CCS and don't plan on doing so, I'd recommend you read the AU ones, though the other characters hanging around may confuse you slightly. CCS has a even bigger fandom than TRC, and the majority of fic there is SakuSyao, I don't write much SakuSyao in TRC because I've had my fill of it hanging around the CCS archive.

**And my, my, it just seems that my notes just keep getting longer and longer. And honestly people, over 120 hits and three reviews? That means roughly only 2.5 percent of my readers review. I am sadded. Yes, sadded, it's not a carelessly typoed typo on my part, I can see that ugly wiggly red line glaring me in the face from my screen, like a jagged sea of blood and tears. Blood and tears from a lack of reviews...the blood is there because I've cried so much that there's no more tears.**

****(I hereby set a early new-year resolution to review EVERY SINGLE DAMN FANFICTION I READ FROM NOW ON. Please remind me of that, I give you permission to pm me, bugging me to write a review if I have added your story to my fav/ alert list but have not reviewed. Or if I have replied to your review saying that I've read your works, but have not ever reviewed on any of your stories.)****

**STOP THE BLOOD AND TEARS. ONLY YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. REVIEW AND SAVE THE AUTHORS NOW.**

**(Later I'll go find those stories I've read before but never reviewed. That's a whole year of reviews to catch up on. And I'm going to go favorite a whole bunch of those that I wanted to favorite but couldn't since I didn't have an account then. If you are one of the author's whose profile I frequent, get ready to be spammed.)**


	5. Day 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own TRC. CLAMP does a better job owning TRC than I ever would.**

**Summary: Tomoyo's plan fails, and the girls are guilt-ridden after hearing of Fai's plight. Kurogane is assigned to take care of the bishop, which leads to _even more_ KuroFai goodness. The bishop pays a secret visit to Sakura's cell in the middle of the night, but is foiled due to the large gathering that is happening there.**

**Warnings: Implied, hi-i'm-whacking-you-with-a-neon-pink-stick pairings. Sort of SakuSyao-centric, with (way more explicit) KuroFai on the side. Because who doesn't love KuroFai? Mentioned Douwata, Shougo with Primera, and Sorata gushing over Arashi. I guess you could call this an AU. This is CLAMP, so yaoi/ shounen-ai. Might have what some consider to be suggestive themes in certain chapters.**

* * *

><p>"Princess?" called a muffled voice, "Princess, where are you? Please, Princess. Your tutor is waiting."<p>

Syaoran paused along the walkway of the princess' courtyard. He leveled a suspicious gaze up into that same large cherry blossom the girl had fallen from the morning before, right at this very same time. A giggle sounded from behind him at that, and he whirled around to see...

Nothing.

Nothing but the cobblestone path leading back into the castle, flanked by that row of ever-blooming trees on one side and the solid castle wall on the other, its continuity unbroken except for a few picturesque statues along the grass, and a particularly large gargoyle just below the princess' window. He quickly scanned the surroundings; that had been, without a doubt, the princess, yet he _simply_ couldn't find her. He turned a full circle as her laughter chimed again across the courtyard, as angelic as church bells. Syaoran closed his eyes and was just about to cast his senses out—just like his teacher had taught him—when the laughter stopped. He opened his eyes.

The princess slid down a pipe leading up the castle wall, landing neatly on satin-slippered feet.

"Hello, Syaoran," she chirped, kicking her foot cheekily into each step (in a manner no doubt disapproved of by her governess) with her hands behind her back,"Fancy seeing you here again."

"Your highness," he returned, "It's nice to see you too."

Even though he couldn't see her face, he just knew the princess was pouting.

"There's no need to be so formal," she admonished, "Just call me—"

She stopped abruptly, thinking about it for a moment before giggling another mischievous little giggle, "well, you'll know on my birthday. Then you can call me by name!"

"Of course, Princess."

The princess skipped the rest of the way over to him, and he wondered briefly what had put her into such a good mood.

"Really?" she said, peering into his face as he flushed and fidgeted in embarrassment, and she finally pulled back happily, "Well then, I'll hold you to that! My birthday is only next week!"

Syaoran's eyes widened. _What a coincidence..._

Then Kurogane and Princess Tomoyo strode out from the castle on their side, in clear view of them, and the princess had no time before they caught sight of her.

"Cousin?"

The princess waved sheepishly, "I was, ah, about to go see Sakura with Syaoran."

Kurogane snorted.

"You mean you're skipping math again."

Tomoyo giggled behind a raised sleeve, a simple but elegant long-sleeved affair of heavy indigo satin with belled sleeves, layered in gradually lightening silks. She wore a silvery sheer cloth over her wavy pitch hair, pinned in place with a entire row of diamond studded roses.

"Princess," came the voice once more, but much closer than before; it was actually on the ground floor this time around. The princess in question issued a small '_meep!_' and quickly looked around for some place to hide. Syaoran just had to laugh at that, and even Kurogane smirked at the princess' behavior. As the voice sounded around the corner, Tomoyo dashed forward to grasp her cousin's hand in hers, lifting her floor-length skirts as she rounded the opposite corner with the princess in tow. She turned her head to smile impishly at them as she went.

"Come on, you two! Keep up! We're going to give Sakura a good surprising!"

Syaoran yelped and Kurogane cursed, beginning to sprint madly after them—or, in Kurogane's case, jog after them. The student called frantically after the two—_oh no, princess! don't run ahead by yourselves, it's not safe!—_the mentor just continued cursing as the signature _'oh-ho-ho' _of Tomoyo's gleeful giggling floated back towards them; it was in such a delightfully undignified manner that they finally made it to the high court.

Sakura was just about to enter the doors that seemed to tower intimidatingly into the high ceilings, having a somewhat one-sided conversation with her guard for the day—a man Syaoran recognized as one named Sorata—who chatted, in a manner most enthusiastic, about his 'honey'. Sakura's eyes twinkled in an amused looking smile as she nodded, not seeming to mind the subject in the slightest.

"Sa-ku-_ra~!"_

At the breathless call of her name, Sakura turned towards them, green eyes wide. A bright smile lit her face.

"Tomoyo-chan," she greeted as they skidded to a less than graceful halt in front of her, bending over to gasp for breath, clothes rumpled and headwear slightly askew, but eyes gleaming brightly with mirth all the same, "Princess."

Around the corner they came: Syaoran halting behind them in a manner substantially more graceful—only just a little breathless and perhaps a teensy bit dazed-looking—and Kurogane following, the most dignified of all; a little cross, and wearing a slightly more irritated version of his usual scowl, but sporting a fiercely displeased glint of the eye that just made him look all the more distinguished. For some strange reason, the look of almost haughty affront on his face just made the two princesses laugh harder.

"Princess," Syaoran began, trying his hardest to look as displeased as his mentor did, though the corners of his lips twitched upwards.

The three girls turned simultaneously to him at his call.

"Yes?"

Syaoran faltered and all three of them laughed infectiously; though he knew it was at his expense, he found himself grinning along with them anyway.

"..._threw a mighty fit, I heard. The archbishop was always too kind for his own good."_

The princess darted forward, grasping the arm of the passing noble.

"Please, could you repeat that?" she pleaded, "What has happened now?"

The lady looked surprised though not offended to have some unknown girl suddenly lunge at her out of nowhere, much to Syaoran's relief. The princess wasn't a very recognizable figure after all.

"Why, my dear child. Haven't you heard?" exclaimed the lady, before continuing in a somewhat kindly manner of speaking, "Lord Fai went to plead with the king on the peasant-witch's behalf." She frowned, and the lord on whose arm she hung shook his head sadly.

"Of course, not many are convinced that she truly is a witch," continued the lady, "they say she looks so very kind. I came today to see her for myself!"

"But naturally, no one is going to be telling His Majesty that," said the lord, picking up the conversation, "And the archbishop is definitely not stupid. I don't know what he was thinking, it's not like him to do something so impetuous."

He 'tsk'ed sympathetically, shaking his head again.

"Oh, but you simply _must _tell me," cried the princess, "What did Fath—the king say?"

This time one of the nobles strolling into the high court chipped in, stepping out with two other ladies.

"Flew into a rage, from what I've heard," she said, gesturing gracefully with one many-ringed hand, "my cousin is one of the Royal Guard, said the whole north wing could hear His Majesty's yelling."

A court lady by her side, a young woman probably just a few years older than the princess, timidly entered the conversation.

"I heard the maids talking all about it when I was walking here," she pulled nervously at her sleeves, "they said the king himself threw him out by the front of his robes. But, of course—" The first noble pounced in eagerly, talking over the girl's soft 'the maids' gossip can't always be trusted', enthusiasm for fine gossip overriding her concern for the kindly bishop.

"Oh that's what my cousin said too," exclaimed she, face flushed ever so slightly in excitement, eyes wide and flashing, "the guards had to stop him from raising his hand against Lord Fai for how angry he was. But they still couldn't calm him enough to prevent His Majesty from _physically_ removing him from the room." As the nobles began chattering enthusiastically, the two guards and their charges moved slightly aways, holding their conversation separately.

"Poor Fai-san," whispered Sakura, looking guilty, "He has such a sensitive spirit too."

Syaoran immediately came to her defense.

"It's not your fault, Princess."

Sakura turned to him, green eyes wide, clearly about to protest.

"He is right, Sakura," said the princess softly, sadly, "The fault is mine."

The boy looked ready to jump to her defense as well, but Kurogane beat her to it.

"S'not," he asserted gruffly, "Don't take the blame for things you haven't done."

"Oh, but it is!" cried the princess distraughtly, "I begged him to plead with Father. The noble was right, Fai would _never_ have done something so stupid if I hadn't asked him to. He knew this would happen!"

Tomoyo made a disconsolate little noise, "But I made him guilty, that was why he agreed," she moaned, "I manipulated him. Even if I never meant for things to turn out this way, the fault still lies with me!"

"No!" Sakura cried, "You musn't all blame yourselves!"

"Then you must stop it as well," Kurogane said shortly, "self-blaming and guilt won't change anything, so stop wallowing immediately and _do _something about it." Everyone fell silent at that, knowing that his words were directed at all of them, and seeing the wisdom in his advice.

"So," began Sakura uncertainly, "What are we going to do now?"

The princess straightened up determinedly.

"You will attend your trial," she said in a soft, but authoritative tone, "This situation has come to light because of me. I will do whatever it takes to restore the balance."

Strangely, Syaoran had an inexplicable feeling that she wasn't only referring to Fai's predicament.

* * *

><p>They sat on the grass, a blanket spread out on the ground and a tray of pastries between them. A maid had passed by a while ago, throwing a fit when she had seen them sitting in the grass (Tomoyo and the first princess had protested adamantly when Syaoran had tried to lay his cloak on the ground for them to sit on) and dashing away to fetch the blanket and the treats. The young guard sat with them, by the insistence of the two princessses, but Kurogane stood against the trunk of the cherry-blossom tree where Syaoran had first met the princess. He had denied their request, saying that he needed to keep an eye out for their safety. Tomoyo said that he was just paranoid.<p>

"Poor Fai," the princess said again, still looking mightily guilt, "and he's been so awfully busy of late; I haven't seen him in awhile. I wonder if he's eating well," here she sighed, "If only I could simply assign someone to make sure he eats and sleeps."

There was a pause. The three younglings turned, in unison, to look expectantly at Kurogane. If he had been anyone else, he might have screamed in exasperation. For the last time... He. Was. Not. Fai's. Keeper! Now, if only they could just get that into their heads.

"Don't look at me," he snapped, "The princess is my charge, not the idiot."

"Well then," Tomoyo said sweetly, and Kurogane how _anyone _could _not _see the evil that was the second princess, "I guess the princess is just going to have to order her knight to keep an eye on her dear friend for awhile, won't she?"

Kurogane was about to protest, but the pathetically hopeful air that the first princess was projecting at him stopped him short.

"Please, Sir Kurogane," she pleaded softly, and the knight suddenly knew why the bishop had agreed to do what he'd done, "You know Fai can be so..."

The princess trailed off, trying to find the words to describe the blonde.

Both Tomoyo and Syaoran (the kid was his apprentice, how _dare _he try to guilt him! He was going to work him extra hard tomorrow morning!) stared at him accusatively, and Kurogane felt himself caving.

"Alright, alright," he growled, scowling furiously, "I'll go later, okay? Now stop looking so...so _sad!_"

The veiled girl immediately lit up and Kurogane cursed her and her damnable innocence. How could _anyone _say no to that disappointed demeanor? He couldn't even begin to fathom the _hell _that would be unleashed upon the world after her unveiling; she was bad enough already without the use of her face. It was no wonder she could bring the bishop to knowingly commit such political suicide. Not that it was much of a feat, the man was already bent on self-annihilation to begin with.

"Self-destructive," he says, in exactly the tone of a man struck by a sudden realization, which was what he was right then.

Yes, that was just the word to fit into the princess' unfinished sentence.

"He's self-destructive."

* * *

><p>A sudden thunderstorm had started pouring down on the castle a short while ago, and the four of them had adjourned to Tomoyo's quarters as the maids had fussed and draped soft, thick towels around their shoulders. (Kurogane was exempt; he glared sharply at the maid coming towards him, and they all left him alone from there on out.) Syaoran could feel that the two royals did not wish to speak further on the looming issue with his mentor and himself present. His mentor had left—shooed away by Tomoyo—just before lunchtime, presumably to supervise the archbishop's eating schedule. The remaining guard had tried to excuse himself, but the princess had been unyielding in her insistence that he stay.<p>

Tomoyo's call of his name snapped him out of his musings, "Syaoran," she asked slowly, gaze slightly lower than his face, "Where did you get that fastener?"

"Oh," he said, looking down at the mentioned brooch, "That."

"I gave it to him when I found out he didn't have one," the princess explained looking perplexed, "Why? Is something the matter?"

"No, no, nothing's wrong," Tomoyo said hastily, "It's just..."

She trailed off and the other royal leaned forward expectantly, "Just...?"

She hesitated.

"Well," she said reluctantly, "Isn't that your emblem?"

Syaoran could almost imagine the blank look on the princess' face behind the veil, "So?"

The second princess picked at her sleeves for a moment, then the other straightened up in sudden understanding.

"Oh," she said, "_That._"

"Yes," said Tomoyo, gazing intently at her cousin, "_That."_

Syaoran was completely nonplussed. What were they talking about? Was something wrong now?

"Well, Sakura did say..." the princess trailed off, "I might. Do it, that is." Tomoyo's eyes widened and Syaoran found himself panicking. Just what was going on? Were they even talking about the brooch anymore? Then the second princess broke out into her signature fit of 'oh-ho-ho'ing, looking obscenely gleeful. Her smile was almost evil, and Syaoran didn't know if he ought to be relieved at her apparent relaxation, or if he ought to start fearing for his life.

"I, for one," announced the girl jubilantly, "think that is an _excellent _proposition!"

The princess lit up at that.

"You really think so?" she asked elatedly, then faltered slightly, "I haven't asked yet though. Maybe in a few days?"

Syaoran felt a chill run down his spine as both of them turned to look at him, gaze assessing. Did everyone know what was going on except him? The princess nodded her head after a moment, and Tomoyo began squee-ing and clapping her hands in an unsettling delight. Her giggles were beginning to sound disturbingly like cackling.

Just what had he gotten himself into?

* * *

><p>Fai reached for the bottle of wine sitting on his desk, and hesitated. He could not indulge in the alcohol-induced amnesia the drink would bring right now; the kingdom was in his hands, and the welfare of the masses were definitely much more important than a drink. He drew his hand back, returning his attention back to the papers before and tugging at his collar again. It was becoming somewhat of a nervous habit.<p>

Blinking, he ran his hand over his collar again.

He cursed as he found the large sapphire that held it closed missing, in its place a few unnoticeable strands of white thread. It must have fallen in the king's quarters when King Ashura had— The blonde immediately cut off that thought. He didn't need to think about that now. This was his only set of formal robes at the moment, the rest were either being washed or dried; the terrible storm that had just started would probably set that back. Fai had a feeling that it would be pouring for a few days, and his intuition about this sort of things rarely went wrong.

Well, whatever it was, he didn't have the time to get a new set made. He was too busy to be getting measured since the old tailor had just left, and the new one didn't know his measurements. He would have to be in court the next few days as well, not just in place of the king but also for Sakura's trial. It had been extended once again.

He knocked over his inkwell as he reached to re-ink his quill, and he stood up quickly, shifting the papers away as he cursed. Shuffling on the spot, he searched frantically for a place to set down the papers, so that he could mop up the mess that his desk had become.

A pair of large, tanned hands reached from behind him, lifting the papers from his pale ones and somehow managing to press a wad of tissues into his hand simultaneously.

"Kurogane?"

The knight raised an eyebrow at that.

"What?" he asked almost mockingly, "No annoying nicknames today?"

Fai inwardly cursed. Had be been so distracted that he hadn't noticed the man entering his office? He turned around, grinning widely.

"Kuro-helpful is so kind today~!"

Kurogane scanned his face for a moment, neutrally, neither angry nor pleased.

"Don't do that."

The blonde blinked.

"Eh?" he utter intelligently, then quickly grinned once again, cheerfully adding, "Kuro-vague, I'm afraid I have no idea what you are talking about!"

"That," said the taller, handsome brow furrowing further as he leaned forward, "Pretending everything's fine when it's not."

The archbishop's smile took on a strained edge; he looked nervous. Though he hid it well, Kurogane could see it as clear as day.

"Oh," he said somewhat breathlessly, "but whatever makes you think it isn't?"

The knight moved forward, and Fai felt his back meeting with his desk. He cursed himself for moving away; It was just Kurogane, why was he feeling intimidated? Kurogane paused.

"Let's go for lunch."

The blonde felt his smile falter for a second, then it was back full-force. He winked cheekily.

"Are you asking me out, Kuro-knight?"

The man in question flushed as red as a tomato, and Fai gleefully awaited for the explosion, just glad to be back on familiar grounds.

"_Who'd ask you out, idiot?"_

The familiar banter began. They would later leave the room, still squabbling, spreading ink and the stack of papers (dumped unceremoniously on Fai's chair) left forgotten behind them.

* * *

><p>It was her fourth night in incarceration, and Sakura was beginning to get used to it. Her new dwellings were rather nice; the hay was a nice change, it made a rather comfortable bed. She had never once been lonely since she had come here, since there was always someone around to keep her company. The guards were all kind to her, and some even took time off-shift to sit outsidde the bars of her cell and just talk to her.<p>

That was another thing. Unlike the dungeons, where there had only been a small opening in the cell door, this cell was rather well-lit due to the openness of it all. All that separated her from the outside of her cell was a row of bars, instead of a wall, and there was even a small window outside the bars of her cell. Watanuki came with hot meals and other delicious treats every so often (he always had food leftover in his basket; Sakura suspected it was for Doumeki) so she was pretty well-fed.

Sakura actually liked it here.

Today, Tomoyo had come to keep her company, carrying a strange bundle with her and saying that the first princess had been unable to make it as she was having classes again. Shougo had also come—on Kanio's insistence—to meet her for the first time, bringing Primera along with him, who immediately burst into animated conversation with the two other girls. Syaoran, Shougo and Kanio spoke amongst a little aways, and Kurogane watched the lot of them from where he stood within easy reach of his princess, silent and looking as disgruntled as he normally did.

The knight suddenly stiffened and whipped around, drawing his sword as he settled into a defensive crouch. Syaoran almost immediately followed his lead, tracing his mentor's narrowed gaze to a cloaked figure by the window.

"Bishop?" Kurogane asked tentatively.

The figure stepped forward into the light, lowering the hood, and Syaoran saw that he was correct. Kurogane snorted and sheathed his sword. The brunette did the same, though without the snort.

"Arara, Kuro-wan sure is observant!" the man said cheerfully as he cast a quick eye around at the crowd, "Ne, why are there so many people in Sakura-chan's cell this late at night?"

It was only then that Syaoran realized it was probably about two in the morning.

"Why?" retorted the knight, "Don't want anyone to know you were here? No wonder you came in through the window, bishop. Why the secrecy?"

Tomoyo rose smoothly, unwrapping the bundle.

"Here, I made this for you," she told him, holding a new set of the archbishop's formal robes in her arms, "Just wear them, no one will stop you coming here."

Fai met her gaze, a strange wariness lurking behind his smile.

"You know about that?"

The royal smiled enigmatically.

"I have my sources."

His eyes flicked to Sakura, before a brilliant smile lit his face.

"Well," he said with his usual close-eyed grin, "Since Tomoyo-chan made them herself, I guess I'll just have to accept them, ne?"

He strode into the cell and Kurogane saw his shoulders tense as the barred door swung closed behind him, though he waved enthusiastically and smiled dazzlingly in greeting, winking playfully at the girls. As he took the bundle from Tomoyo, he flipped the cloth wrappings back over to cover its contents. (Sakura would later ask Syaoran why Primera blushed so hard at Fai's wink, and Syaoran would mumble something about a 'sparring incident'.)

"You should come over tomorrow," Tomoyo commented casually, "the princess has been wanting to meet with you. But remember to wear the robes I gave you, I need to see if it fits."

Fai hesitated for a moment, smile ever-present.

"I'd love to, Tomoyo-chan," he replied politely, "I suppose I will see you tomorrow, then."

"You're leaving already, Fai-san?" Sakura spoke up, eyes wide, "Please stay awhile."

The blonde's smile turned a little more doting as he bent down to ruffle her short brown locks.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan. I'm expected back there," he said softly, "I'll probably be around more often now though, so I'll see you really soon."

His eyes flicked back to Tomoyo, and he smiled before straightening up and raising the hood. The cloak fell seamlessly around him and suddenly, he could have been anyone. He turned and, waving a final goodbye, leaped gracefully out of the window, cloak billowing around his frame.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: GNAH GNAH GNAH GNAH GNAH (this is a multi-purpose sound of frustration, appreciation, horror, or disgust) Why are the scenes so short in this one? Well, at least it's not as short as in Sanctuary, but then again the scenes is Sanctuary were _supposed_to be short and choppy. For those of you who are sitting there staring blankly at your screens, Sanctuary is a oneshot that I posted on Friday. It's KuroFai, and I realize that a tonne of you people are probably SakuSyao readers, not KuroFai readers, so I think you may not have seen it. Anyway, this is sort of a transition into the next chapter. The real build-up will start in the next chapter, until the climax in the final chapter. Things are really going to start going downhill from here. But don't worry! I'm a sucker for happy endings, so this fic will have a happy ending. I'm sure you people will be concerned about the first princess' relationship with Syaoran, especially in the next few chapters, so I'm going to tell you right now that I am strictly canon-whore for most CLAMP novels (I consider KuroFai canon. Do not question me) and that it will definitely end with SakuSyao. On a side note, because I stopped posting over Christmas (I had a oneshot prepared for it, sooo... ), I managed to finish the next as well. SO AS A CHRISTMAS PRESENT, YOU MAY HAVE TWO CHAPTERS TODAY *applauses myself*. And also, I'd like to tell you that although it may still be Christmas for some of you, over here in my country its already Monday afternoon.**

**Reviews really do make my day. So please review!**

**I've finally figured out how to reply reviews! *slaps forehead* PM! Why didn't I think of that? So I'll only be replying to the non-signed reviews here. **(You CAN review anonymously, you know? I'm definitely not going to complain.)** You may skip the unbolded replies:**

BakaNeko: Thank you for your review, and I'm glad you're already excited to know who the first princess is. No, she isn't an OC, there are no OCs that are important people here. Well, I guess you could say the unnamed nobles and the unnamed maids are OCs, but I don't count them as OCs. I don't like OCs in general, so I try not to write them. I don't want to spoil, but the first princess is someone we all already know. ^^ *trying to be enigmatic and failing miserably*


	6. Day 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own TRC. CLAMP does a better job owning TRC than I ever would.**

**Summary: Syaoran bonds with the princess, and accidentally overhears a strange conversation between the royals. Fai's condition is deteriorating, and Sakura is losing hope. A conflicted Syaoran confronts Fai about the trial, but to no avail, and makes a startling discovery. The king finally makes his appearance, whereupon he announces that Sakura will be burnt, trial or no, in two days.**

**Warnings: Implied, hi-i'm-whacking-you-with-a-neon-pink-stick pairings. Sort of SakuSyao-centric, with (way more explicit) KuroFai on the side. Because who doesn't love KuroFai? Mentioned Douwata, Shougo with Primera, and Sorata gushing over Arashi. I guess you could call this an AU. This is CLAMP, so yaoi/ shounen-ai. Might have what some consider to be suggestive themes in certain chapters.**

* * *

><p>Syaoran felt incredibly stupid.<p>

He had come down from training early (Kurogane had been particularly vicious today, Syaoran was still trying to figure out why) because his mentor had needed to go out to carry out a last minute errand for Tomoyo, and now waited under the cherry-blossom tree by the princess' window. In the rain. He didn't know what to feel. For one, he seemed to transfer devotions from Sakura to the princess, then back again. That wasn't good at all, was it? He somehow felt like he was cheating the both of them—Syaoran flushed at the thought, it wasn't as if they were in an relationship or anything—but he couldn't choose between the two of them. For another, she was a _princess, _and he ought not to be so close to her. He was nothing but a commoner, albeit one lucky enough to be apprenticed by an honest-to-god military legend.

Maybe he ought to leave, it was ridiculous waiting here like this. As he turned to make for shelter, a soft giggle sounded from somewhere nearby, but cut itself off quickly. The laughter continued in brief but stifled bouts, close, as if she were just in front of him. Syaoran refused to turn around in circles like an idiot, not again.

"Princess?"

"I'm over here!"

It took him several tries to find the veiled royal peeking out from under an almost unnoticeable stone awning, built over an abnormally small doorway. It was hidden from sight by the large gargoyle under her window, and the awning (until closer examination) looked like its wings.

"Waiting for me?"

The guard flushed at the truth of the playful statement. The princess giggled and beckoned him over.

"That's sweet of you, but you shouldn't stand in the rain like that."

He squeezed into the small space behind the gargoyle, ducking under the awning and through the doorway. The princess immediately draped an expensive looking towel over his shoulders.

"Thank you," he said softly, casting an eye around the secret little room he had entered. It was tall enough that he didn't have to bend over, but short enough that he could definitely touch the ceiling if he reached up. The parquet flooring was covered in tasseled rugs and expensive furniture. In the corner there were a bunch of embroidered cushions around a small table, on which a tea tray sat upon a lace doily, steam rising lazily from a porcelain teacup.

"What is this place?"

The princess flopped onto the pillows—there was no one but him to witness her undignified behavior—and poured him a cup of tea.

"It's my secret hideaway," she told him, beckoning him over to the pile of cushions opposite her, "I found it when I fell onto the gargoyle while climbing out of my window years ago. I don't think anyone knows about it but me."

Syaoran 'hmm'ed absently in response. The veiled girl traced his gaze to a glass cabinet on the other side of the room, which wasn't very far away.

"Oh," she said, standing up and crossing the room in five strides, "This is where I keep all my treasures, little trinkets I find every once in a while, or things I don't want the chambermaids touching."

She pointed at one specific item.

"Like this one!" she opened the cabinet to take it out and show it to him as she explained, "I found it in the hall one day. It's a musical locket. I think a noblewoman probably dropped it; I tried returning it but I couldn't find her."

The princess snapped the locket open, a sweet melody tinkled softly. Syaoran stood, nursing his cup of tea, and moved nearer; all the better to see the next item she brought out, replacing the locket in the cabinet.

"The maids found this coin in the fountain of my courtyard. They were going to throw it away because it doesn't seem to be the sort that we use, but I managed to swipe it. I think it must have been an ambassador's. I wonder if he made a wish, and if it came true."

The brunette smiled as the royal chattered animatedly about each object, ransacking drawers to show him every last item. Finally, she reached a last one, suddenly seeming far away. It was a beautiful music box, tucked away on the top shelf, and maybe only about the size of Syaoran's palm. It was made entirely out of intricately tangled vines of gold, covered in finely-carved gold leaves—the veins lent it an unsettling reality—and shimmering pink diamonds, probably meant to be some sort of blossom.

"This music box was a birthday present from my mother, before she passed away."

The princess cradled it in her palms, and a strange glow seemed to shine through the minuscule gaps in the vines. Syaoran could feel a strange pull coming from the trinket.

"I hide my biggest treasure in here," she said proudly, snapping out of her daze, "I found it in the woods one day, when I snuck out of the castle for the first and last time; I got lost, and never dared to sneak out again. It was in a faraway glen, by a stream. It's really pretty. I designed my emblem on it."

She seemed about to open it, but she hesitated, looking thoughtful.

"I'd show you but my mother had my name engraved on the inside of the lid," she said softly, before piping up cheerfully, "I guess I'll just have to show it to you on my birthday then, won't I?"

The princess carefully replaced it on the shelf, and closed the cabinet. She paused with her hand still on the glass handle of the cabinet doors.

"Thank you, Syaoran," she said softly, still not looking at him, "For listening to me."

Syaoran suddenly realized that she probably had very little people to talk to, they were probably either maids or subordinates. The only person around the castle her age was probably Tomoyo, but the princess was likely to busy with her classes to visit her cousin. He suddenly felt awfully sorry for her. An strange determination to protect her, make sure she was never lonely ever again, came over him.

"Thank you for telling me, Princess."

* * *

><p>It was still pouring outside. Rain dripped from the roof-edges of the sheltered courtyard hallways in a transparent sheet, and a distant rumble of thunder crashed over the loud patter of water. Syaoran could feel the spray from the heavy rain misting against his arm from the courtyard; the floor was shining with wetness. Just then, Fai came dashing around the corner, skidding on the slippery marble. He cursed as he flailed for a moment, before regaining his balance. For once, there actually was a crease to smooth down, and his collar was hanging slightly open, clasp seemingly missing.<p>

It was strange to see the archbishop in such a state.

The man ran a hand down his front, and another through his hair, just a little messier than its usual artistically tousled state. He adjusted his collar so that it looked like it was held together by a hidden button or zip, and the moment passed. But his eyes were slightly glazed, and it took a moment before they could focus on the brunette. He looked haggard.

"Syaoran," he said, faltering before he drew a roll of parchment from his robes and handed it to the boy, sing-song conspicuously absent from his voice, "Please, would you do me a favor and pass this to the princess? She's probably with Tomoyo since it's about time her mathematics tutor arrives. I have to rush back to my room right now."

And then he was gone, sprinting off and, thankfully, not slipping on the wet floor again.

Syaoran raised an eyebrow, and spared the parchment in his hand a glance. He shrugged and turned to make his way to Tomoyo's wing; he wasn't about to poke his nose into things that were not his business. And he definitely respected Fai's privacy enough that he wouldn't read what he'd written to the princess. On the way, he met with Watanuki, who went all starry-eyed when he stated where he was going ("Himawari~! Himawari is so cute!") and passed him a book to return to a 'Himawari' on his behalf. He soon reached the second princess's chambers, and the maids pointed him to her sitting room when he asked for her; none of them were Himawari. He asked for Himawari as well, but they said that Tomoyo had sent her on an errand yesterday, and she wouldn't be back for a few days more.

"_...anyone might notice? Or do you think he might notice himself?"_

The brunette paused with his hand on the door handle of Tomoyo's sitting room doors. Should he go in now? But the conversation sounded important; maybe he ought not to interrupt it. There was a pause and Syaoran was just about to push the door open and enter, when the second princess' muffled voice came from the other side of the door.

"I dreamt again last night," she said, "_that_ person gave me a solution."

"A solution?"

There was a crinkle of paper, and Syaoran debated with himself. Should he wait until they kept whatever it was? Maybe it was something they didn't want anyone to see.

"_Oh," _came the princess' voice, "But, have you already used it? And you've sent Kurogane on that errand haven't you?"

The brunette heard the distinct rustle of paper again and the scrape of a chair. Footsteps whispered across the floor.

"Yes, to both. I did it this morning."

The sound of a drawer opening and closing. Syaoran let out a breath—he was rather uncomfortable standing out here and unintentionally eavesdropping on what appeared to be a private conversation—and raised his hand to knock on the door.

"She said to use it so that—"

"Syaoran-kun?" it was Fai, and he had changed into his new set of robes, judging by the sapphire at his throat, as per Tomoyo's request. He also looked much sharper, gaze more focused, "What are you doing here?"

Syaoran quickly found himself revising that opinion as he held up the parchment, frowning at the archbishop in concern.

"You asked me to deliver this to the princess," he told the blonde worriedly, "Don't you remember?"

Fai looked confused for a second more, before understanding dawned on his face.

"Oh, that! Of course. How could I forget?" the archbishop stepped forward, taking the parchment from him, "Why don't I deliver this for you since I'm here, ne? I have to talk to Tomoyo-chan anyway."

"Oh, okay," the brunette agreed quickly, "Watanuki asked me to return something to Himawari, but she's not here today. I really need to find out where she's gone."

"Sure thing!" Fai sing-songed easily, waving goodbye over his shoulder as he made his way into the room "See you later, Syaoran-kun~!"

The door closed behind him, and Syaoran turned to leave.

Now to find Himawari.

* * *

><p>When he stepped foot onto the landing atop the spiraling staircase of Sakura's prison tower, it took him a moment to locate her. His cloak was still spread on the hay, but she wasn't sitting there like she usually did. Syaoran's flare of frantic panicking lasted only a split second, before he spotted her wrapped in Kurogane's cloak at the far end of the cell, hidden in the shadows. A chipping sound of scraping stone against stone filled the room over the loud patter of the pouring rain.<p>

"Sakura?"

The scratching sounds stopped abruptly as Sakura whipped around with a short _'oh!'_ of surprise. Catching sight of him, she smiled in greeting.

"Syaoran-kun," she greeted warmly, and turned back to the wall. The scratching sounds resumed.

Syaoran unlocked the door, grinning and mouthing a 'hey' at the guard (one of the small handful his age, another brunette named Ryuuou) on duty today. The boy in question smirked back at him in silent greeting. Syaoran approached Sakura and leant over her shoulder curiously. She had a small jagged stone in her hand—he absently noted that it must have broken off from the walls—and was scratching something onto the prison wall. Probably sensing his curiosity, Sakura spoke over the soft scraping, not pausing in her work. Her eyes were fixed on her etchings, brow furrowed adorably into a look of intense concentration.

"I'm making a note of how many days I've been here."

Squinting in the poor lighting, Syaoran could barely make out five crudely engraved lines, the last one crossing out the previous four. He somehow found himself very bothered by that; it wasn't like she was going to be here for _years_ or anything, right? She was innocent, he was certain of it; Fai would surely clear her. He couldn't not.

"_Syaoran-kun?_"

The brunette started, looking up to meet Sakura's horrified gaze. He frowned in confusion. Why...?

Sakura put down the stone and gently lifted his clenched fists. He noted, with some shock, the blood running down his wrists from where his nails had cut into his palms. He consciously unclenched them, and watched the color flow back into his knuckles.

"What's wrong, Syaoran-kun?"

He hesitated, unsure of whether to tell her. But her gaze, worried and so very open, was too much for him to simply brush off. Instead, he hugged her, careful not to get his blood on her clothes. Sakura sucked in a short breath, shoulders tensing. Then she relaxed and turned her face into his shoulder.

"You'll be found innocent, Sakura," he said, surprised to hear how shaky his own voice sounded, "I know it."

He felt rather than saw Sakura's sad smile.

"But of course," she whispered.

She didn't sound like she believed her own words.

Syaoran withdrew to look her in the face. There was a knowing look in her eye that she tried to hide, unsuccessfully. Sakura had never been very good at deceit (he wondered why he referred to her as if he had known her for years, instead of the mere five days it had been).

"S-Sakura?"

The girl smiled a close-eyed smile, but it lacked the warmth that gave it its usual radiance. Today it just looked sad, but Syaoran thought that she still looked beautiful like that; she was, would always be, beautiful to him.

"You should spend more time with the princess, Syaoran-kun."

He felt like an ice-cold fist had reached into his chest and gripped his heart. Was she pushing him away? Telling him to move on? Telling him there was no hope left for her now?

"You won't be locked in here forever!" he insisted, desperation thinly veiled under his choked voice, "You can't! You're innocent!"

"I know I won't."

Syaoran blinked. Sakura had said it with such a soft sort of surety. But, didn't she... His eyes widened as realization crashed over him.

No...

"You won't," he said, quietly now, "You won't be burned. I won't let them."

Sakura only smiled that small knowing little smile, and turned back to her etching, saying nothing. Her silence was a clear enough message.

_Don't bother with a dead person, Syaoran-kun._

* * *

><p>It wasn't hard to find Fai nowadays. He was either in court, or in his office. Most likely the latter. The only problem was getting in; normally the maids recognized him and allowed him to waltz right in, however they must have been able to read the intent on his face today and thus barred him from entry.<p>

And that was how Syaoran found himself where he was now: attempting to get in through the kitchen windows.

Casting a quick glance around the room, the young apprentice made sure he had no eyewitnesses before he leaped deftly through the window, using the momentum of his fall and turning it into a roll. Ending in a defensive crouch, Syaoran checked his surroundings once more before rising and silently padding across the room to take a peek out of the kitchen door. A giggling group of maids strolled past, gossiping about one thing or another—he couldn't really be bothered what; he was here for a purpose, and he would fulfill it no matter what. He waited for the maids to pass and took another careful look left and right before slipping out of the kitchen and darting swiftly down the corridor, not making a sound.

"...sent one of her personal maids here too."

Syaoran quickly scanned the corridor for a hiding place; there was none. The voices drew nearer, sounding to be just around the corner.

"That Himawari girl right? She called in sick today, must be that bug going 'round."

He frantically tried the door beside him, surprised and immensely relieved to find it unlocked. He dashed in and closed the door with a soft _click_ just as the voices rounded the corner.

"Yes, that one. The one with the pigtails. Dark hair."

The guard took a step back and froze as he nearly knocked over a dustpan; he had hidden himself in a broom cupboard. Great, had the maids come to collect cleaning supplies? He had the most rotten of lucks.

"Well, listen to this," the voice was right outside the door now and Syaoran found himself wielding a ladle, ready to knock out the unfortunate chamber maids, "Since she called in sick today, the _first princess herself_ came to attend to His Grace."

There was a pause. Syaoran found himself gripping onto the ladle more tightly and lowering himself into a battle-ready stance in the silence.

"_What?"_

"I _beg _your pardon?"

"_Impossible..."_

"You'd think they thought we couldn't do our jobs properly or something."

There was a haughty sounding sniff.

"We are _perfectly _adequate."

The click of heels started once again and Syaoran sagged against the door in relief as the mutterings passed the door, continuing down the hallway. He waited until the sounds of clacking heels faded out of earshot before throwing down the ladle and dashing out of the broom cupboard.

Right into a very surprised princess.

"Oh!"

The brunette thanked his mentor for his quick reflexes as he steadied the princess with one hand, catching the tray she carried with his other.

"Princess!" he cied, "Are you alright? I'm so sorry!"

"Oh no, it's alright," she assured him hastily, "_I'm _alright. Thank you for catching me. Again."

The princess cut him off before he could speak.

"Are you going to see Fai?"

Syaoran blinked at the sudden change of topic.

"Eh? What? Err... I mean," he took a deep breath, "Yes, yes I am."

"Well, I suppose we could go together, couldn't we?"

Syaoran smiled gently at her.

"Of course we could, my princess."

Even though he couldn't see it, he was sure the princess was smiling. Strangely, when he attempted to imagine it, an image of Sakura's smiling face superimposed itself over the princess'. He immediately felt tremendously guilty. How could he be here, making friendly with the princess, while Sakura was waiting for him in that cell?

"Syaoran?" the guard noted with a start that the princess had already moved ahead and was now turning back to regard him concernedly, "What's wrong?"

He smiled and jogged to catch up with her.

"It's nothing," at her disbelieving air, he added, "I was just thinking..."

He paused.

"...That you really remind me of Sakura."

Well, he _had _thought of that as well.

"Oh?"

To his surprise, the princess sounded amused and even... pleased? How strange... Syaoran shook his head; he had always been bad at reading people.

"Well then, you can treat me just like Sakura then," the princess said, giggling, "Come walk beside me; no need to lag behind like that."

He hesitated before closing the respectful distance he had maintained behind the princess, as protocol called for. He could feel her beaming at him before she turned to face forward again, exuding an aura of cheer. They walked for a while in a comfortable silence, thankfully not encountering anyone. (The princess didn't seem to know, and Syaoran wasn't looking forward to telling her, that he'd been thrown out and had broken in through the kitchen window.)

Abruptly, the princess stopped in her tracks, so abruptly that Syaoran had to back two steps to return to her side. She placed the tray on an ornate end table, fiddling with the food arrangement and preparing the tea.

"You go on in first, I'll be right in," she said, gaze fixed on the rising tendrils of steam, as she concentratedly brewed Fai's tea. The brunette was about to protest, but realized that it was exactly what he needed; he really didn't want to talk to Fai about Sakura in front of the princess. So instead he nodded and opened the door, adding a quiet _'see you in a moment_' before closing the large doors of the archbishop's office behind him.

He turned to face Fai.

The blonde looked a little worse for the wear, eyes slightly bloodshot from too much reading, and bags dark under his eyes from a lack of sleep. He was just a little paler than usual, a little less color in his cheeks, lips whiter than it's usual coral pink hue. His eyes and nose were a little red and watery, not like he had been crying, but like he had a cold. Nothing too bad; that wasn't what had Syaoran stopping abruptly and frowning worriedly.

What was disturbing was that Fai seemed unable to recognize him, dazed gaze fixed unseeingly on his face. He seemed even worse than when Syaoran had seen him in the courtyard that morning.

"Your Highness?"

At the call of his title, Fai seemed to finally see him, eyes narrowing slightly as he fought to focus on his face. Recognition flittered across his pale features.

"Syaoran," he greeted, with no trace of his usual lilt. His blue pupils unfocused and refocused on the guard's face again, "Is something the matter?"

Syaoran quickly put all that aside; he had come here for a purpose, after all.

"It's about Sakura."

Fai's expression immediately closed up. The boy noticed for the first time that without his smile he looked exactly as royals were suppose to be: regally beautiful and so elegant that he was disquieting, ethereality and exotic coloring (he had never seen anyone with such light hair except the silvery-haired healer who had gone to help out in the war down by the coasts) lending him a sort of untouchability. In that moment, he looked exactly like the king.

"I cannot help her."

All semblance of calm flew out of Fai's ornate floor-to-ceiling windows.

"But _why?" _Syaoran exclaimed, anger, hurt, confusion, and just a hint of betrayal giving his voice a muddled passion, "You're judging her, you're the one deciding her sentence!"

The blonde closed his eyes, and the man seemed so very different from his usual self. But he wasn't angry, didn't look angry; he looked sorrowful, he looked betrayed and hurt, he looked very much guilty. But he didn't look angry.

"I am merely a figurehead, a puppet carrying out the king's bidding," he said quietly, resignedly, "I do not decide the outcome of the trial."

"But you must have _some _say in this," insisted the boy, "You're the archbishop!"

Fai sighed, and though Syaoran knew that it probably wasn't the man's intention, he was half in mind to snap that he was not to be patronized.

"Right now, my position in this case is just for show," Fai repeated, "The king is the actual judge of the trial, and he wants her burnt."

The brunette seemed about to come up with another suggestion, but Fai cut him off.

"I may be a prince. I may be a member of the king's council. I may be the archbishop. But I do not have as much power as you think I do," Syaoran seemed inclined to disagree, and Fai cut in quickly, "Not against the king in any case."

He shut his mouth, trying to think of a solution.

"But..." he began hesitantly, "there must be _something_ you can do."

The prince lowered his head, a sad smile gracing his porcelain-doll face.

"There is _nothing_ I can do."

He placed his feather-quill back to paper, and Syaoran knew he had just been dismissed. On auto-pilot, he found himself turning slowly on his heel and walking stiffly out of the door. He felt numb. He _had _known somewhere deep inside that Fai was very unlikely to be able to accomplish much, but he had hoped anyway. As he closed the door behind with with a loud clack, the princess issued a loud, panicked squeak. He turned to see her attempting to hide something in her skirts. It was some sort of powder, wrapped in brown paper, He could see it sprinkled in the soup and over the pasta, camouflaged amongst the powdered cheese.

Was she... She couldn't be! The princess had grown up with Fai, she couldn't possibly want to _poison _him, could she?

"Princess," he began slowly, "What is that?"

The princess looked nervous as she turned to lift the lid of the teapot, emptying what was left of the powder into the tea.

"I...erm... I got it from the doctors," she murmured guiltily, not meeting his faze, "Fai's not been himself lately. The doctors say it's because of stress."

She looked even guiltier, and Syaoran let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. So _that _was it.

"Is that why you've had Himawari come here?" Syaoran asked, "To put medicine in Lord Fai's food?"

The princess nodded.

"I'm having her tell him that I cooked it myself," she explained, "he won't eat, otherwise."

Syaoran found himself smiling; she really was just like Sakura.

"You're very kind, Princess."

For some strange reason, the veiled royal only looked even guiltier.

"Thank you," she whispered, before lifting the tray, "I'm going in now."

He opened the door for her, and she paused at the threshold.

"Will you wait for me under the cherry blossom tree? I have something I need... to ask you."

He nodded, and she continued continued ahead into the room.

* * *

><p>Syaoran was surprised to find, as he turned the corner, that he was not the only one in the normally deserted courtyard.<p>

"Syaoran?"

Tomoyo blinked at him, eyes wide with surprise. Kurogane, on the other hand, merely raised an eyebrow. His teacher had probably heard him coming; the man had near inhumane hearing. The second princess appeared to have been passing something to her knight, as evidenced by the bulky package bundled up in the man's arms. The bright silver of armor shone briefly through a gap in the brown cloth that she'd used to wrap it up in. Kurogane adjusted the cloth to cover it up.

Tracing Syaoran's gaze, Tomoyo giggled breathlessly.

"It's for my cousin's birthday," she explained, "It's two days from now and this grump's scratchy old armor certainly won't do."

_Two days? What a coincidence!_

Said 'grump' scowled at her, but surprisingly did not retort. Instead he turned to his apprentice.

"We're going now, kozou," he told him curtly, "You take care of the princess, you hear?"

He strode past Syaoran, and the young apprentice noticed that he wasn't wearing his armor. He was back in that peasant's garb again.

"Which princess?" the brunette called, turning to face the retreating backs of the second princess and her knight, "Sakura, or the first princess?"

His mentor paused, turning his head slightly in Syaoran's direction.

"_Both."_

And then the two of them were gone, brown cloak and violet dress disappearing around the corner. Syaoran stared after them for a moment before a loud call of his name startled him out of his thoughts. He turned to see the princess waving enthusiastically at him from the other end of the corridor. They came together under the cherry blossom tree, Syaoran smiling at the memory of their first meeting as the princess turned to look up at the pink flowers.

"Isn't it beautiful?" she murmured as she reached up, palms cupped to catch the fragrant petals floating down on the breeze. A petal landed amongst the ornate pins that held her veil over her hair today.

"Yes," he agreed absently, reaching out to remove the petal from her head, _"Beautiful."_

He knew the princess must have been blushing behind her veil as she thanked him softly. In the middle of the courtyard, a couple of swallows dived into the birdbath, chittering melodiously as they splashed around in the water. The two teenagers watched for a few minutes, a comfortable silence serene between them, as two of them began to peck and flick water at one another indignantly. Syaoran chuckled and turned towards the princess, about to comment, and let the words die in his throat.

In the brief respite the pouring rain had given them, the damp mist, hovering just over the floor from the recent rainfall, shone gold around the royal's feet in the sun. The leaves of the large cherry blossom filtered the weak sunlight over them in little splatters and splotches of yellow-gray. In the dreamy light, Syaoran could see the shadow of the princess' side profile through her veil: traces of long eyelashes, a delicate chin and a small button nose. She would probably be pretty under her veil.

He felt the guilt come crashing back onto his shoulders. Sakura was in danger of being burnt at the sake, and here he was, watching birds with the princess, (who ought not to be associating with someone of his station in any case) and thinking her _pretty._

"Princess, perhaps we shouldn't—"

"Syaoran, I have to ask you—"

They both stopped at the same time.

"Pardon?" the princess asked tentatively.

"Oh, no," Syaoran said lamely, "Why don't you go ahead first?"

"Oh," she said, looking nervous all of a sudden, "well, it's just that... I—"

A loud cry of '_princess!' _cut her off, but this time, the voice was distinctively male. The princess turned away from Syaoran, towards the sound of footsteps.

"Princess?" came the male voice again, "where are you, you _monstrous _little brat?_"_

At that, the princess bristled, looking uncannily like a cat with its hackles raised.

"Who are you calling a monstrous little brat, you stupid, stuck-up _prince!" _she screamed down the corridor. Syaoran took a step back, reeling at the 180 degree change in personality. The footsteps faltered, and then a dark-haired head peeked around the corner.

"So there you are," the youth said dryly, "I think the battalion down by the coasts could hear your beastly squalling. Sometimes I think you must be a big, ugly crow, born into the wrong body."

The princess stomped her foot.

"I am _not!" _she turned to Syaoran, looking apologetic, "Don't listen to my brother, he's always this way."

The young man approached them, hands folded behind his head, and Syaoran was struck by how much like the king he looked. The prince had the same black hair, though his was cropped short, and the same brown eyes. He supposed the princess would probably look something like that too, all black hair and pale skin like Princess Tomoyo and that woman general who was a distant relative, Lady Kendappa.

"Only ogres stomp about as much as you do, my barbaric little sister," he drawled, before directing his attention to the brunette beside his sister, "You beware of her, brat."

The princess _shrieked _in fury, and looked like she might be tearing her hair out if her veil weren't covering it.

"On the contrary," Syaoran began timidly, "I find the princess quite charming."

She immediately flipped from furious to shy and modest in a second.

"Oh, I'm _not_. You're just flattering—"

"Yeah, she's right, brat," the prince cut in, "She's not. No need to flatter her."

The veiled royal turned back to her brother, and the force of her glare was so strong that Syaoran could _feel_ it even though her veil.

"Princess~!"

Attention averted, the prince waved lazily over the princess' head.

"Fai," he greeted casually.

The princess whipped around delightedly as Syaoran noted that the man in question had changed his robes _again_, probably on his way to court. He also reflected that the medicine seemed to have done its job; the blonde was much more lucid than he had been before.

"Fai," she greeted, somewhat shyly, "This is my brother."

The prince rolled his eyes.

"I know I've been away for while," he griped, "But surely that doesn't warrant you _re_-introducing me to _Fai. _We've known each other since we were what? Four?"

The princess turned to give her brother an ugly look, and looked to be about to say something even uglier, when a female voice cut her off.

"Princess, where are you?" the voice called, sounding rather crossed this time, "Please not _this _again!"

The prince raised an eyebrow.

"Math?" he questioned, "Perhaps I should throw you over my shoulder and hand you to the matron."

The veiled royal darted behind the archbishop.

"Don't you _dare!_"

Fai chuckled and placed a hand on her veiled head, smiling fondly at her.

"Looks like you better start running."

The princess reached for his other hand and gave it a brief squeeze in gratitude before turning to blow a loud raspberry at her brother, picking up her skirts, and turning to run off.

She paused.

"Syaoran, about that... thing I wanted to ask you..." she began softly, not turning to face him, "I'll ask you tomorrow. Definitely!"

The young guard blinked and opened his mouth to reply, but she had already disappeared around the corner. The prince turned accusing eyes onto the archbishop.

"You spoil her rotten."

Fai chuckled, but before he could say anything in his own defense, the matron came clacking irritably around the corner. Seeing them, she stopped and dropped into a curtsy.

"M'lords," she greeted, "May you perhaps have chanced upon the princess?"

"That way," Fai replied immediately, pointing the direction opposite the one the princess had gone.

"That way," the prince replied immediately, pointing down the corridor the princess had just taken.

Syaoran wisely kept his mouth shut.

* * *

><p>It was with guilt weighing heavily on his mind that Syaoran returned to Sakura's cell in the evening. Another day gone, with nothing to show for it. As he entered the prison tower, murmuring a half-hearted greeting to Masayoshi and Ryuuou when he passed them, he remembered sprinting through that very same doorway for Fai's office just that morning.<p>

He didn't even know how he could face Sakura's smiling face, welcoming him happily back from a day spent idling around with the first princess. Which was a a whole other set of problems in itself. Not mentioning Sakura, he doubted he could even face _himself _in the mirror. Syaoran wondered what his mentor would say if he knew; would he be disappointed? Disgusted? Angry, even? Perhaps he might draw his sword right then and lope Syaoran's head from his shoulders. The brunette shuddered at that thought; it was entirely possible, after all, the knight seemed to have a soft spot for both the first princess and Sakura. They were entirely too similar, though he supposed that _that _must be the reason for his... Well, not quite infidelity, but something close.

Syaoran's troubled pondering was interrupted by his nearly being bowled over by one very panicked archbishop as he was trudging slowly up to Sakura's cell.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Fai rambled, "I have to go, _now."_

Syaoran deliberated for a short moment between flattening himself against the wall to allow the blonde through, or simply going back down the stairs. He settled promptly on the latter, deciding that there was _no way _the bishop could squeeze past him in such a small space no matter how slim he was, and how skinny Syaoran was. He began to reverse his way back down the stairs, quickening his pace at Fai's increasingly frantic babbling.

"His Majesty, King Ashura," announced a herald just outside the door.

Fai made strangled choking noise and sprinted back up the stairs, taking three at a time. Syaoran floundered on the steps for a moment, as the rhythmic clanging of armor, coinciding with the synchronized fall of footsteps, grew progressively louder outside. The door was flung open on its protesting hinges, and the young guard nearly fell from where he stood halfway up the stairs. He darted down, tripping down the last four steps, and squashed himself against the wall, flinging himself down into a low bow.

"Your Majesty," he chorused along with Masayoshi and Ryuuou, also bent into equally low bows.

There was a long moment in which all was absolutely silent save the king's leisurely footsteps further into the room, and Syaoran kept his head down.

"Rise."

Doing as he was told, the brunette straightened up and backed away from the staircase respectfully. His eyes widened slightly; it was the first time he had seen the king in such close proximity, and he truly _was _more majestic up close than he had always looked all the way from across the throne room. He was decked in robes very much similar to Fai's white ones, except in blacks, browns, and blues. An icy blue diadem shone on his pale forehead, keeping back the black silky strands that framed his serene face. His eyes were a kindly amber, like the prince, but contrary to what Syaoran had though earlier, they were leaning much more to the side of a tawny gold, rather than the earthy brown of the prince's.

The princess stood meekly at his left, and Kurogane slightly behind her. At a respectful distance behind the king on his right side, his own ferocious looking bodyguard glared. The brunette quickly lowered his head as they passed, feeling thankful that no one had noticed or reprimanded his gawking. Kurogane reached out and snagged him by the back of his collar as he began to ascend the stairs behind the king's knight, quietly muttering, "Keep up, kid."

Syaoran flailed for a moment at the rough jerk of his collar, but thankfully did not lose his balance. The soldiers behind him grinned, but did not comment.

He emerged on the second floor landing to the sight of the archbishop flattening himself into a corner with a squeak. For a moment, Ashura vacillated between approaching his adopted son, and attending to what he had come for. He regretfully tore his gaze from Fai to move closer to the cell bars.

"You must be Sakura," the king murmured, smiling kindly at the young girl, who had stood up to curtsy.

"I am, Your Majesty."

The king moved even closer.

"Come closer, child," he coaxed gently, "Let me take a look at you."

Sakura meekly approached, curtsying again as she stopped right before him, the row of unrelenting bars all that was between them.

"You really do look very much like her," he commented kindly, reaching out to tilt her chin upwards, "It's a pity I'll have to have such a sweet girl burnt in two days time, trial or no."

Syaoran felt his stomach drop to his leather boots; he didn't think it'd be so soon. If Sakura was affected by his words—or his unfaltering smile—she simply smiled sweetly, if somewhat sadly.

"It really is a pity," the king repeated, smiling his disturbingly kind smile at her as he withdrew and backed away gracefully.

Behind, the princess lowered her head sadly.

"Fai," the king called, turning to face the bishop, "You have been avoiding me, my son. Have I frightened you so terribly?"

At being addressed, the blonde paled so spectacularly that Syaoran thought he might pass out.

"Of course not, Ashura-ou," Fai said silkily, much too silkily for it to be a truth, swallowing so hard that Syaoran could see the sapphire as his throat jerk slightly, "Now if I may, I do have much paperwork left to do. Excuse me for my rudeness _butIreallyoughttogetgoing."_

He attempted to flee down the stairs, but was foiled by the sheer amount of soldiers that had accompanied the king on his excursion, all of whom now crowded the narrow staircase, and the entire first floor in all probability as well.

"Back!" barked the king's knight, "Make a path for His Highness!"

Over the loud clanking and general chaos of the soldiers trying to move back down the stairs in full armor, Fai laughed shrilly and waved them off.

"No, no, it's perfectly fine," he trilled, airy voice getting progressively high in pitch as he darted around the king, giving him a wide berth, "I can find another way out."

He flung the windows open—

"_By Your Majesty's leave!"_

—And all but threw himself from the window, smile near _maniacal _from how forced it was.

Muffled cries sounded from downstairs, then:

"No worries, I'm fine, absolutely wonderful, never been finer a day in my life!"

And then the sounds of harried footsteps vanishing into the distance.

There was a long silence before Ashura sighed.

"But I suppose I deserved that," the monarch said sadly to his knight, "Do I not, Taishakuten?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And here's the second chapter for today. Merry Christmas, and I think Day 6 should be out tomorrow, and Day 7 (the last chapter) the day after. I'm trying to get them all out so I can go do some studying and do my homework in peace, before school starts. I hope it isn't too obvious by now who the first princess is, if you've already guessed... Err... I don't know what to do. OH! Try not to say it explicitly if you review, wouldn't want to spoil it for those who haven't guessed yet ;). Damn, I really do hope it's not too obvious. I hope you enjoyed your 'present' from me! Again, please review. And about the episode with Syaoran hiding in the broom-cupboard, why a ladle? Well, think drunkenness in Outo. (I think it wasn't in the anime, was it? I've forgotten.) There is something special in that music-box, and it's important. You'll find out what in the last chapter.**


	7. Day 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own TRC. CLAMP does a better job owning TRC than I ever would.**

**Summary: Fai has finally snapped. Kurogane is feeling helpless and Syaoran is depressed. The royals are planning something, but what? And who is the mysterious stranger? The princess finally reveals what she had wanted to ask, and there's _more KuroFai goodness!_**

**Warnings: Implied, hi-i'm-whacking-you-with-a-neon-pink-stick pairings. Sort of SakuSyao-centric, with (way more explicit) KuroFai on the side. Because who doesn't love KuroFai? Mentioned Douwata, Shougo with Primera, and Sorata gushing over Arashi. I guess you could call this an AU. This is CLAMP, so yaoi/ shounen-ai. Might have what some consider to be suggestive themes in certain chapters.**

* * *

><p>Morning was accompanied with renewed downpour, grey skies, and all around gloomy weather. It was silent, not even the usual chirp of birds from outside; even if there had been, the loud roar of the falling storm would have drowned it out. It was a fitting semblance, thought Kurogane as he sipped at a mug of beer, after the news that had been delivered the night before.<p>

The kid had refused to leave the prison hold despite being told to—stubbornly insisting that it was _his_ shift and that it was his own fault that he had decided to spend the day with the princess the day before instead of getting some sleep, like he had been supposed to—and now dozed lightly on one of the wooden chairs on the first floor of the tower. (Both Tomoyo and the first princess had come early that morning, oddly solemn, to speak with Sakura privately. Which _obviously _justified his being kicked down to the first floor along with his depressed apprentice.)

It was a rather strange relationship his apprentice had with both Sakura and the princess, if Kurogane did say so himself. But Syaoran was a good, responsible kid, and Kurogane trusted that the kid would have his own reasons for doing what he was doing...Whatever it was that he was doing. And it wasn't like it was his business anyway, so he definitely wasn't about to go beating the poor boy up about it.

No, Syaoran seemed to be doing _that_ perfectly well on his own.

Tilting the rest of the alcohol down his throat, the knight wondered if he could go outside to source for more. Tomoyo _had _told him to make sure no one went up while they were still talking, and he didn't really want to wake Syaoran up. He looked at his empty mug, and decided that the store was close enough for him to run a quick trip there and back. Kurogane stood and, casting one last glance at the sleeping boy, strode out into the pouring rain, pulling his cloak more tightly around his body to try and prevent the rain from seeping through the gaps in his armor and making him feel all gross later on.

It was as he was filling his mug from one of the storehouse's many beer barrels that he heard the soft hiss of voices just on the other side of the wall.

"_Syaoran-kun?_" came the muffled cadences of what sounded to be that idiot's voice, "What are you _doing here? _You weren't supposed to come today!"

Kurogane frowned; seems like the kid had come looking for him, _now _who was going to guard the princesses? It was an awfully stupid thing to do, and he resolved to chew the boy out for it at a later date, perhaps after the whole fiasco was over and he stopped moping.

"I'm sorry, Fai-san," said the kid, "I needed to see Sakura-hime."

A pause.

"Syaoran-kun," Fai began carefully, "It'll be over tomorrow, you shouldn't—"

He bit back a curse as his drink began to spill over and splatter loudly onto the floor. He immediately the tap off with a scowl, and stepped back from spreading puddle of wasted beer on the floor.

"There's someone in the store," hissed Fai, and if Kurogane had been a lesser man, he may not have caught it, "Go to the princess."

Trying to wring the foam and beer of his hands (the one downside to always wearing armor was that he couldn't even wipe his hands on himself) Kurogane turned around and threw the door open in the bishop's face. He rolled his eyes as the man jerked and dropped into a battle-stance. Blue eyes widened in recognition, and the blonde straightened up again. He looked a little worse for the wear, mostly stress and fatigue, but he managed a bright, dazzling, _fake _smile for the knight.

"Oya? he said, tilting his head to the side, "I never expected to see Kuro-chan here!"

Kurogane felt a stab of irritation at the sight of that damnable smile.

"Neither did I expect to see you here," he shot back, "Especially after you left so _abruptly _yesterday night."

He fought down a vicious satisfaction as it slid right off Fai's face.

"Looks like Kuro-wanko will always be Kuro-wanko," the bishop laughed airily, smile coming back as quickly as it went, "All fierce and curious like a little growly puppy."

He bit back a growl, not wanting to prove the idiotic blonde right, and turned away.

"If you're just going to spout nonsense then I'm going back," he snarled, "Have fun at court."

To his frustration, the bishop only skipped along behind him.

"But what makes you think I'm going to court? Kuro-sa~ma!"

The knight stopped and turned around.

"Well, for one thing," he began irritably, "you're wearing your new robes. For another, _don't you think now's about damn time the assembly starts?"_

Fai faltered mid-step, and Kurogane had to wonder how _off _he was that he'd almost forgotten that he had to go hold court in Ashura's place.

"Well, maybe I'd wanted to see Sakura-chan before I went."

"_Well," _he said though gritted teeth, "You can go right back because Tomoyo told me not to let anyone up to see her. Not till they were done talking."

Almost like magic, big blue eyes immediately filled to the brim with tears. The bishop stared up at him accusatively through thick lashes, fluttering and batting them shamelessly as his lips pulled down into what _had _to be the pout of the century.

"Kuro-tan is heartless!" he wailed, "To send me back _drenched _after I've come _aallllllll _the way here in the rain!"

The drama queen sobbed loudly and pressed the back of one hand over his eyes, turning away.

"Fine," he choked melodramatically, "I'll go, and on the way back I'll catch pneumonia and _die."_

Kurogane could only gape.

"You—" he spluttered, "_You're_ the one who didn't bring your bloody cloak! Now you're blaming _me _for getting wet?

He was pointedly ignored.

"Heartless," Fai sniffled, "Heartless! You're not my favorite anymore! I'm going to find a younger, more handsome man who'll _appreciate _me and _love—"_

"_I'm not your lover!" _Kurogane roared.

He tore his cloak from around his neck and flung it at that infuriating blonde head.

"There!" seeing the bishop struggling briefly under the cloak, the knight let out a loud cry of frustration, "_Like this!_"

He tugged the black cloak off Fai's head and pulled it so roughly around slim shoulders that the bishop stumbled forwards into his chest. The blonde blinked somewhat dazedly at him as he fastened the cloak for him and spun him around.

"Go!" Kurogane yelled in a manner uncannily similar to how one might chase a rather persistent cat away, "Go _home!"_

The warrior's shove sent the blonde staggering a few feet away, before the man hesitated and turned around.

"Your cloak," he began, "Can I return it to you tomorrow?"

Kurogane waved him off and began to make his own way back to the prison hold.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he grumbled, "Now, don't you have a court to attend to?"

The blonde blinked dazedly, and then his face softened in a way the knight had never seen before.

"No matter what," he whispered, "Kuro-sama will always be the same kind person on the inside."

As the man in question began to turn red and splutter an incoherent protest, Fai beamed and skipped away, clutching Kurogane's cloak tightly around himself and singing, "Softie! Softie! Kuro-puu's a softie!" at the top of his lungs. Refusing to give in to the urge to yell profanities at the idiot bishop's retreating back, the knight gritted his teeth and made his way back towards the prison hold. He was somewhat put off to see Syaoran still hanging around outside the door.

"What the hell are you _still _doing loitering around out here?"

Syaoran started and whipped around to face him.

"I thought I heard someone moving around outside," he explained with a thoughtful frown, "but I guess it was just you."

Fair enough.

"Well, let's not stand in the rain," the older man groused, turning to head back into the shelter of the tower, "I'm not going to coddle you if you fall sick."

Syaoran cast one last glance over his shoulder at the loud caw of a raven, and saw its pitch-black shadow ghosting up the wall and disappearing into the window.

"Close the damn door already!"

It _had _been just a shadow, _hadn't it? _But the shadow had seemed almost too opaque a black to be one.

"_Kid!"_

Syaoran winced at the irritation in his mentor's voice.

"Coming!"

He closed the door behind him.

It probably had been the shadow of that passing raven anyway.

* * *

><p>A few hours of waiting had Kurogane fidgeting agitatedly from where he stood against the wall.<p>

"What the _hell _is taking them so long?" he snarled, "You'd think someone had snuck in through the window and _killed them all!"_

At that, Syaoran turned an alarming shade of grey.

"What's wrong?"

The boy swallowed audibly and collapsed into a nearby chair.

"Perhaps we should go check on them," he suggested shakily.

Kurogane frowned.

"I wasn't being serious kid," he said drily, "Don't look so worried."

His student shook his head.

"I thought I saw someone in black disappearing into the window just now, but there was a bird passing above so I assumed it was just its shadow."

Kurogane felt his stomach drop down to his feet. Turning and taking the stairs at a sprint, he made up his mind to properly chew Syaoran out, no matter how depressed the kid was. _After _he checked on the girls.

"_Princess!"_

Tomoyo whipped around.

"Kurogane?" she sounded panicked as she moved in front of him, as if to block him, "_I thought I told you not to come up?"_

Over her head, he caught what clearly _black _cloth whisking out of the window. He narrowed his eyes as he moved forward. No more secrets, she'd been keeping them all week and he _knew _that she'd not sent him on yesterday's errand _just because she wanted the lychees specifically from two cities down. _She had been hiding something from him, and he was _sick _of it.

"_Kurogane!"_

He ignored the warning tone in her voice and brushed her off his arm as he made his way swiftly for the window. It was obvious that she had been trying to block his view of that person, which might have worked if she hadn't been so damned _short. _A short, brown-hooded figure glided smoothly between him and the window, wordlessly.

"Move."

The cloaked child—no adult could be that short—stood his ground, silent and unmoving. Kurogane snarled and drew his sword.

"I said _move!"_

"_No, _Kurogane-san!" Sakura screamed, throwing herself against the bars, "_Don't hurt him!"_

Before he could say anything, Syaoran's muffled voice from below cut him off.

"Wait! You can't go up there now, the princess—"

The first princess had squeezed herself between the boy and Kurogane while he had been distracted by the disturbance. There was loud footsteps crashing up the stairs, then Fai came bursting onto the second floor.

Kurogane didn't know _how _the archbishop managed to look so much worse in such a short period of time, but he did. He had dark bags under his eyes, contrasting in a sickly manner against his pale skin, which seemed almost translucent now. He was as white as paper—it did not help that he was already pretty pale to begin with—and the knight could see the underlying green and blue veins. Blue eyes were duller than usual and unfocused, the whites were bloodshot, red capillaries standing out starkly from the white. When he spoke, he spoke like he had a cold.

"Ashura," he began hoarsely, "Ashura says Sakura will be burnt—burnt tomorrow, even though the trial is inconclusive."

His voice cracked.

"I'm s—so sorry," he stuttered oddly, "I never wanted—never wanted..."

He trailed off, standing forlornly at the top of the stairs, looking lost and confused. Syaoran was lingering worriedly behind him.

"Ashura says tomorrow," he repeated jerkily, "Burnt tomorrow. Sorry I tried but I—I never wanted—just found out just now that—"

"But Fai," Syaoran offered timidly as the archbishop broke off abruptly again, "you were_ here_ when he told us yesterday."

Fai blinked.

"But—but I," he said distressedly, "I wasn't—was I here? I don't remember—I don't—"

Syaoran approached him as one might approach a frightened animal.

"Fai," he began cautiously, "When was the last time you ate, or slept?"

The blonde only looked more distressed.

"I don't—I don't—" he began to tug vehemently at his ruined collar, eyes flicking around the room, "I don't know. I don't remember—I—"

Kurogane moved in front of him and began to steer him carefully down the stairs.

"We're going to get something to eat," he grit out, "_Now."_

Fai shook his head.

"But—but I—" he protested, "I still—still have work to do."

The knight grabbed him by the collar.

"Seriously, bishop?" he snarled, "_Look at you, _I leave you for one day to run an errand, and you've_ completely snapped! _You were _fine _just now!"

Suddenly the hooded boy was beside him again, placing a hand on his forearm, still not speaking a word.

"What?" Kurogane growled, "Are you fucking _mute? _If you still want that hand, keep it to yourself!"

"Kurogane," Tomoyo said dangerously, "You _will_ leave us, and you _will _escort Fai to lunch. _Now."_

The knight reigned in the urge to punch something, and complied with a furious snarl.

As their footsteps—one pair loud and angry, the other clumsy and disorientated—died away, the first princess turned to her cousin.

"Tomoyo, this can't go on."

The second princess bit her lip.

"It's just till tomorrow, cousin."

"Then you know it won't make a difference!" she cried, "This _can't _go on, _you saw how he was!"_

The dark-haired wavered, looking incredibly guilty.

"I agree, Tomoyo-chan," Sakura contributed quietly, "You know he's like this because of us."

Syaoran raised his hands awkwardly.

"Please, this isn't anyone's fault," he cut in, "He's just stressed, and you've already tried helping him right?"

The three girl turned to stare at him; he got the distinct impression that they'd forgotten he was there.

"Princess," Sakura began, "Why don't you go with Syaoran-kun for lunch, we can finish the discussion with..."

She trailed off, then waved in the general of the cloaked figure, who Syaoran realized _he _had forgotten about.

"But Sakura," he protested, "I can't just leave you all alone here! And the second princess too!"

Sakura smiled and gestured again towards the mystery person.

"Don't worry, he's here—" which was _exactly _what he was afraid of "—he won't let anything happen to us."

The princess knotted her hands together nervously.

"It's alright, he doesn't have to—"

"Isn't there something you wanted to ask him?" Sakura interrupted, "We'll be fine here. Besides, I want to talk to..."

She gestured towards the stranger again.

"But—"

"Oh no, it's fine," Syaoran cut in, turning towards the stairs, "I want to go, princess."

The veiled royal hesitated.

"But is it really alright?"

Syaoran smiled.

"Of course."

She stood and, lifting a large bundle into her arms, joined him at the top of the stairs. He took the bundle from her, and smiled at her.

"Then," she said over her shoulder, "I guess I'll see you later."

The cloaked figure fidgeted as she began to descend the stairs.

"Princess!" he called abruptly, in a voice obviously forced lower than his usual voice range, "Remember to tell him! Please, _please don't forget."_

She stopped and turned to smile at him.

"I won't," she said, "I won't forget."

* * *

><p>Syaoran didn't know how, but when he was with the princess he <em>always <em>found himself back at that same cherry blossom tree. The princess had been silent the whole time, but she now spoke up hesitantly.

"Syaoran," she began, clutching herself tightly, "this is probably a very, _very _bad time to be asking this, but it can't wait any longer."

She stopped abruptly and whipped about to face him.

"Would you like to become a knight?" she blurted out, "That is to say, would you like to become _my _knight?"

Syaoran felt like he'd been shoved into a lake in the middle of winter. It was strange, because he had the distinct feeling that he should have been _happy. _And he was, but he was so horrified at that happy feeling because... because... _how about Sakura? _Before he'd met Sakura, this would be a dream come true, but he'd met Sakura, and now he didn't know what to do. He wanted to protect the princess—he'd vowed to that day when she'd brought him to that little room behind the gargoyle and he'd realized just how lonely she was—but he how could he just _leave_ Sakura to be burnt, as if now that she was going away, he could just throw her away like a broken doll and find someone new?

"I—" he said through the haze of his dread, "This is really sudden, I just—I don't know what to_ say._"

The princess lowered her head.

"It's alright," she whispered, "You don't have to say yes if you don't want to."

Syaoran shook his head vehemently.

"It's not that I don't want to, I just—"

"Princess! Where are you again?"

She turned towards the voice.

"I'm here, Madame!" she called.

"If you change your mind," she said sadly, nodding at the bundle he had been carrying for her all this time, "Just wear this and come stand by me at the ceremony tomorrow."

"Princess, I—"

"_There you are, Your Highness!" _said the matron, grabbing onto the princess as if she feared the girl might run away; Syaoran had to admit that her fear was not unfounded, "You're late for your mathematical studies, _again. _Your tutor is already here."

The princess obediently allowed herself to be steered away by the woman.

"I know," she murmured docilely, "I'm sorry, Madame."

She turned to look at him one last time as she disappeared around the corner. Syaoran unwrapped the bundle, feeling his heart drop as it revealed a gleaming set of armor, just as grand as his mentor's, and a white cloak with no clasp. Numbly, he covered it back up, then turned and began to make his way back to Sakura's cell. He met Kurogane on the way, and they both headed back together.

"So how's Fai?" Syaoran asked.

Kurogane sighed.

"He's sick, he's caught that bug going 'round and—I don't know. I don't know what's wrong with him, a cold shouldn't make him act like _that. _He was _fine _this morning!" he said frustratedly, angrily, "Why can't that idiot learn to take care of himself? He's like a _child!"_

The young apprentice turned away, wisely choosing not to comment on the sheer _helplessness _on his mentor's face, thinly masked by his anger.

"Was he fine yesterday?" he asked.

"I don't _know!" _Kurogane snarled, "Tomoyo, she—she sent me to get _lychees_, and she wanted the ones from Linningsvale. I was gone the whole day, and when I got back I had to escort the king to the cell, so I couldn't go check."

As they came out of the palace onto the prison grounds, Syaoran remembered, with a frown, seeing Kurogane in the first princess' courtyard after lunch. But he supposed that his mentor had probably gone from _then_, and not come back until the time he'd seen him yesterday. He did remember Kurogane vanishing after Fai had escaped from the window, and he had come back later, looking relieved. So Fai had probably been fine yesterday as well, only until this morning.

"And doesn't he know how to ask for _help? _The rest of the council members are just sitting around looking all stunned and lost!" the knight raved, "He won't—he won't even let me carry his _papers_ for him!"

The man fell silent with a frustrated groan, and the young guard realized that the two of them were in the very same predicament, like mentor like student. He wanted to help Sakura, but how could he when the _king_ was ordering her execution? He couldn't even break her out with the amount of security around the place, and even if he got her out of the tower, there would be people swarming around the grounds. If he managed to get past the prison grounds by some miracle, then he'd have to get through the palace itself, the center of all security;it was just_ not __possible_. Likewise, Kurogane wanted to help Fai, but he couldn't do anything but _carry his papers_ for him, because he was a warrior, a knight, and he knew nothing about politics and the administrative side of state-running. Syaoran sighed and rubbed his face tiredly, just the thought of how _powerless_the two of them were made him depressed.

Kurogane threw open the doors to the prison tower, yelling "I'm back, so if you have _anyone else to hide_ you'd better do it now!" and stomping angrily up the stairs. Syaoran followed much more docilely behind him. The stranger was still there when they reached the second floor's landing, kneeling beside Sakura in her cell. Tomoyo stood and turned to face them.

"How is Fai?"

"Why the hell is everyone asking? Does it _look _like I care?" Kurogane roared angrily, "He's a self-destructive bastard who has no sense of self-preservation. He can go kill himself for all _I_ care!"

Tomoyo looked at him thoughtfully.

"You need not escort me back to my wing," she told him; it was not a suggestion, "Go back and make sure he sleeps."

"Can't," Kurogane said gruffly, helplessly, "There's no one else to do the paperwork, and if it's not done then the state—"

"Tomorrow is a public holiday," the second princess said, "You can force him to sleep tonight, and let him do the paperwork tomorrow. Tell him not to come tomorrow."

Sakura smiled sadly.

"I don't want him to come for the... the ceremony. It'll only make him guilty."

Kurogane frowned.

"But doesn't he need to be there to perform the ceremony?"

Tomoyo smiled enigmatically.

"I'll take care of that," she assured him, "It's getting late, so go escort him to bed. Make _sure _he does not come tomorrow. The princess says its alright if he misses it. Can you do that for me?"

Her knight grumbled that he was not a child, and of course he could. Though his scowl was still present, he looked a lot calmer.

"Go now," the second princess urged, "And stay with him tomorrow. I'll see you in two days."

Kurogane turned to go, still grumbling, but hesitated at the top of the stairs.

"But... you'll need someone to bring you back to the palace," he said, frowning.

She waved at the hooded boy.

"He'll bring me," she said, "You've left me alone with him all day. I'm sure you can trust him to take me back safely."

It was a measure of how anxious the knight was that he did not argue further, simply nodding and turning to leave.

"Make sure he does not come tomorrow!" Tomoyo called after him, "Make _sure _of it!"

The moment Kurogane disappeared out of their sight, Sakura turned to him eagerly.

"Did you say yes?"

With a sense of betrayal, he realized she had known what the princess had been wanting to ask him all along.

"I—" Syaoran said, "I didn't—I said I didn't know."

Sakura looked crestfallen, and he didn't know why he felt so hurt.

"But...why not?"

"The matron came before I could answer," he told her. Well, it wasn't really a lie, "She said to stand by her side tomorrow if my answer was yes."

"Are you going to?"

Syaoran bit his lip at her expectant tone.

"I—I don't know. I guess. Perhaps. I don't know."

"You should," he felt another pang of hurt at that, why was she so...so _eager_ to give him to someone else? "I need to know there's someone taking care of Syaoran-kun before I go."

He winced at her choice of words. _Go._ The way she said it was so off-hand, like she didn't care at all that she was going to... going to _die_. He'd wanted to say yes so badly, because he definitely cared for the princess, and Sakura wanted him to say yes so badly, because she cared for the both of them. So why did he still feel so very guilty about it? He wanted to say yes, he wanted to say no, he wanted to say nothing, he wanted to not have to answer. Sakura smiled sadly at him, and strode over to hold both of his hands in her own through the bars.

"Promise me," she said, "That you'll at least think about it."

He licked his dry lips and nodded.

"I will."

* * *

><p>He was thirsty. So very thirsty.<p>

He needed a drink, Fai realized, rising numbly to stagger towards the tray that the dark-haired maid had left on the end table by his door after he had told her he didn't want it, saying he might later with a sad, sad look on her pretty face. She had looked oddly familiar with her large eyes and thick curls, split into two ribbons on either side of her head. He reached for the glass, but it shook wildly in his hand as he reached for the bottle of wine on the tray, exhaustion adding a sort of dazed edge to his straining mind.

A tanned hand plucked the glass out of his hand from behind him, leaving him swaying on the spot, trembling hand outstretched as if he still clutched the glass. He blinked.

Huh, he thought blearily as he started blankly at his uncooperative hands, I hadn't noticed that. He vaguely realized he hadn't eaten dinner—only that light lunch that Kurogane had forced him to eat—and midnight had already come and passed. He didn't think he'd had anything else but the tea that maid had brought in all day. It was the same tea he'd been surviving on through the past few nights of paperwork.

"Stop," came a familiar gruff voice, "You must rest."

A day or two ago, he might have snapped at the person, however uncharacteristic it was. He was _busy _and he was _tired._

But he had reached a new level of exhaustion. He couldn't even muster the energy to be angry, he only stared blankly ahead for a moment, trying to process the situation. He could only feel numbness. Fai finally managed to figure out that he ought to be acknowledging the other man's presence through the strange buzzing in his ears. He turned to the man, struggling to focus on the tanned face (was he really _that _tired?) as a mere courtesy; he would recognize that voice anywhere. A strangled jumble of something that might have once been a greeting tumbled from his lips.

Kurogane frowned.

"You're exhausted."

Fai suddenly felt like telling Kurogane that he was _not _a child, dammit. And he refused to be coddled by anyone, not even him. Quickly as it came, the urge drained away. He didn't feel like he had the strength to do that much anyway. Instead, an absent _'aah...' _that really could have meant anything slurred from his lips. He didn't think it was possible to slur the simple vowel.

Kurogane moved to place a hand on his shoulder. If he had been in his usual state of mind, he would have been mortified as he buckled under the weight of that hand. But since he wasn't, he simply slumped bonelessly into Kurogane's arms, still staring blankly into empty space. He barely registered warm fingers lifting his chin, a blurry face contorting into worried anger mere inches from his own. Then his world suddenly shifted, and he was floating, _weightless._

"You are going to lie down," said the knight firmly, carrying him through the door like some sort of princess, as if he weighed nothing at all, "And I am going to get you something to eat. Then, you will sleep."

There were a few maids idling along the corridor despite the late hour, and they pointed and whispered as they passed. And just _what _was he doing? He shouldn't allow Kurogane to carry him like this; it just wasn't appropriate. And his office! He hadn't locked his office! There were confidential documents still sitting on his table, and he _really _couldn't rest now, not when he still had so much work to do, and—and oh _lord, _the _rumors _that would be circulating in the morning. Gossip spread like wildfire in the palace, no doubt _everyone _would know about this in the morning...

"I will _not _allow you to destroy yourself any longer."

...but Fai, Fai couldn't bring himself to care about the consequences come morning, not when the knight was being so...knightly. So instead he melded pliantly into Kurogane's warmth with a soft sigh.

He felt so, so warm.

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><p><strong>AN: Oh my, I hope everyone is not too OOC. I wanted to show how absolutely down everyone is, thus Kurogane's anger, Syaoran's depression, so on and so forth. The reason why Kurogane is so easily angered here is because I'm taking his character from the beginning of the manga, before he sort of develops into the mature, mellow Kurogane of post-series. I'd always thought that he seemed like a child at the beginning because his mood is so easily influenced, so I was trying to write him like a lost child who is trying hard not to show just how helpless he's feeling. By the way, the discussion on Syaoran's brooch on Day Four is because normally only knights would wear the emblems of royalty, so there was a lot of implications there that the oblivious princess did not think of when she gave the fastener to Syaoran. And it looks like the KuroFai side-story is coming out of the dark! Next chapter will have angsty Syaoran and fluffy KuroFai, then a surprise and a happy Sakura-is-not-burnt ending.**

**So who is the mysterious hooded boy? Well, you'll just have to find out in the next chapter. Why does the king want Sakura burnt so badly? Well, you'll just have to find out in the next chapter. What are the princesses planning? Well, you'll just have to find out in the next chapter_. _And just_ who _is the first princess? Well, _you'll just have to find out in the next chapter._ EVERYTHING will be tied up in the next chapter, but the chapter itself is only about 3000 words. I _hope _it will be something you've never expected. And although I said it'd be up tomorrow, I've decided to post it today since it's so damn short. Yikes, I realize that some of my readers are sort of irritated with Syaoran, but he will be redeemed in the next chapter. Along with everything else. After you've read the last chapter I'd definitely recommend you to re-read, everything will be put in a new light, the reason why is something you'll find out in the next chapter as well.**

**REVIEW!**


	8. Day 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own TRC. CLAMP does a better job owning TRC than I ever would.**

**Summary: Syaoran decides to move on, and goes to the princess. Fai awakes with Kurogane, and insists on attending the ceremony despite Tomoyo's orders. Their unexpected presence disrupts the plan, and all secrets are revealed in the chaos.**

**Warnings: Implied, hi-i'm-whacking-you-with-a-neon-pink-stick pairings. Sort of SakuSyao-centric, with (way more explicit) KuroFai on the side. Because who doesn't love KuroFai? Mentioned Douwata, Shougo with Primera, and Sorata gushing over Arashi. I guess you could call this an AU. This is CLAMP, so yaoi/ shounen-ai. Might have what some consider to be suggestive themes in certain chapters.**

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><p>The rain had stopped.<p>

Syaoran pushed the doors of the prison tower slowly open, although he knew there was no one there anymore; they had all gone to the castle, where a stage had been constructed for the day. He trodded up the stairs, steps echoing loudly within the empty space, and emerged on the second floor. The cell door was wide open, swinging slightly on its hinges, but there was no welcoming presence waiting for him behind the bars. The cell was empty.

He numbly made his way into the cell that now looked so forbidding without Sakura's innocence lighting it, bending down as he caught sight of something on the wall at the very end of the cell. Seven little chips in the stone, for seven little days. A week since he had met her, and she had turned his world upside down. What a horrible way to spend his fourteenth birthday. But he hadn't known coming of age could happen so quickly; he no longer felt like a child.

He stood up and left, not looking back.

It was time to move on.

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><p>Fai awoke to the cheerful chirping of birds and the sunlight streaming in through the curtains over him. He blinked dazedly at the ceiling of what appeared to be his bedroom, and wondered what he was doing there. He had grown accustomed to either awakening with unfinished paperwork under his cheek, aching from having fallen asleep over his office desk yet again, or not awakening at all, aching from another sleepless night.<p>

Also, his thoughts were much more coherent than it'd been in _days. _In fact, everything was so much more clear that he lay in bed for a few minutes, stunned at obscenely _sharp _his vision was. Apart from that, though, Fai was feeling pretty good. He rolled onto his side and snuggled back into the warm skin pressed to his back, closing his eyes and sighing happily into his pillow.

His eyes shot open in shock.

_There was no way..._

Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, the archbishop counted to ten—raising it to twenty on second thought, and then thirty on a third—but he could _still _feel that warm skin against his (_naked!) _back, and large feet warming his own under the tangled sheets. An alarmingly large palm was laid over the curve of his ass, long fingers curled into the hollow of his hipbone. There was something hard pressing dangerously between his cheeks and he was _not _going to think about that and—and—and god, oh _god! he'd slept with another man!_

There was a painfully masculine sigh against his nape (when had that spot gotten so damn sensitive?) before long legs began to untangle themselves from his own bare ones and, thankfully, the hot presence at his backside moved away.

"I can hear you thinking," murmured a familiar voice, and Fai's heart plummeted as he realized just _who _it was who'd he'd slept with the night before, "But you haven't slept with me."

His mind ground to a stop.

"Oh," he replied in a small voice, "_oh."_

Kurogane scoffed and tossed the covers off the both of them as he got out of bed. Fai whined and curled up into a ball, guiltily missing the other man's warmth and realizing with a start that he had—in his panic—not noticed that he was still wearing pants. Short, tight, and barely covering his butt, but _still_ pants. He was horrified to discover he was actually _disappointed _that the knight had been telling the truth.

The man in question growled and pulled the covers totally off the bed, away from clutching fingers. Fai yelped when the knight landed a sharp smack to his bottom, and blushed to the roots of his hair.

"Get up," the taller man ordered, "The food's getting cold."

The blonde whined some more, but hurriedly wriggled to the edge of the bed (it was a big bed, and the way they had been entwined had left plenty of space) and swung his legs off before Kurogane could smack him again, taking the warrior's still-warm pillow with him.

"Kuro-knight is so mean!" he wailed, standing by the side of the bed in just his underwear. He snatched the covers from the other's grip, winding it tightly around himself before curling up at the small table on his balcony, shivering slightly as the remnants of the last few days of rain misted over his naked skin, and hugging the pillow for warmth. With a melodic _chink _of porcelain, Kurogane set a tray of what seemed to be breakfast on the table, and sat himself in the chair opposite.

"You won't feel so cold with something in your stomach," he said simply, and poured out two cups of tea for them both.

Fai stared sleepily at the steaming cup of tea for a moment, willing himself to extend his arm out from the relative warmth that the sheets around him provided and take it. Finally, he just dropped his head onto the pillow and rubbed his face into it in a distinctively cat-like manner. It smelt like Kurogane. When he finally looked up again, bleary-eyed and somewhat disgruntled, his companion was frowning at him; the slight strain at the corners of his lips and the glint of amusement in his eye gave him away.

"Are you always such a lazy ass in the mornings?"

Fai sniffed and finally reached out to nurse the hot cup of tea between his cold hands. He didn't think he could bear to drink it, because then it wouldn't be warm anymore.

"Only when I've been rudely forced out of bed on a cold morning," he replied, shooting an accusative look at the man opposite him.

Kurogane rolled his eyes in response and reached for his own cup. If he was in any way uncomfortable sitting right there in nothing but a baggy pair of shorts, he didn't show it.

"Then why don't you just drink your damn tea?" he growled, bringing the cup to his lips, "Instead of just _sitting there _feeling all cold and lazy."

He promptly turned and spat the tea out onto Fai's pristine marble floors, sniffing tentatively at his cup.

"The tea is bloody _drugged!" _he spluttered, half in outrage and half in disbelief.

Fai frowned and leaned over to snatch Kurogane's cup from his fingers, placing his own back into its saucer.

"It's can't be," he said, sniffing at the tea, "the princess made it herself."

Kurogane opened the teapot and took a whiff, then made a face.

"It's a hallucinogen," he groused disgustedly, "No _wonder _you were so out of it. Can't you smell it?"

"I can't smell _anything," _Fai told him, "I've been having an awful cold from all the rain lately."

Kurogane gave him a strange look.

"But you were perfectly fine before court yesterday," he argued, "and the night before that too. I caught up to you on the grounds and you said you were fine."

Fai frowned even more deeply.

"You saw me before court yesterday?"

The knight rubbed at his temples.

"Can you _still _not remember that?" he questioned frustratedly, "You wanted to see Sakura and I gave you my cloak because you said you would catch _pneumonia_!"

Fai's eyebrows shot up.

"But I haven't left my office in _days!" _he protested, "Except to go to court. And whenever you dragged me to my own kitchens to get something to eat."

The warrior looked like he was about to start tearing his hair out in aggravation.

"You were _there _when the king came to Sakura's cell!" he roared, "Has the damned drug damaged your brains, bishop?"

"No, I _wasn't_," the blonde insisted stubbornly, "I only found out when Ashura made the announcement in court yesterday. And I don't even _have _your cloak!"

His blue eyes suddenly widened.

"Oh, lord!" he cried, shooting out of his seat, "It's _today! _What am I still _doing _here?"

Kurogane sighed as the bishop dashed across the room and flung his wardrobe doors wide open.

"Sakura said she didn't want you to attend the burning," he said flatly, "I don't blame her after seeing what you were like yesterday."

"But," the blonde protested distractedly as he hastily dressed, "I simply _must _attend the little princess' unveiling. I'm supposed to perform the ceremony myself!"

Kurogane hesitated.

"But Tomoyo told me to keep you here," he said doubtfully, before groaning as Fai began to arrange his ruined collar in front of his vanity, "And if it's really _that _important, can't you wear your new robes?"

The man began to comb his fingers through his hair, carefully smoothing down his robes in the mirror.

"I only have this set," he answered absently, preoccupied with his own reflection, "The rest are still drying. It's the rain."

Kurogane threw his hands up.

"This again?" he roared, "You were wearing it _yesterday! _And the night before too!"

Fai finally turned to face him, lips pursed.

"Well, I only have one bloody set of robes," he snapped irritatedly, "You must have seen someone _else, _masquerading as me and drugging my food so I can't appear to defend my name!"

Their eyes widened in unison.

"It..._can't be_..."

* * *

><p>"Today, my dear subjects," the king smiled, spreading his arms wide, "we are here to witness the unveiling of our princess, and secondly, the burning of another of the devil's accursed followers."<p>

Syaoran tuned him out as, beside him, the princess' knuckles whitened alarmingly in her lap. She was dressed elaborately for the occasion, jewels dangling from the hem of her long sleeves, and trailing over the floor from the long train of her dress. Gems at the ends of silver chains hung over the sides of her head from the crown atop the satin that covered her hair today, usual over-the-head veil replaced by one that was a simple square of shimmery cloth, pinned to either side of her temples for easy removal.

They were elevated up on the wing of a grand stage that connected straight from the castle, the king at his throne right at the middle, the dark-haired prince to his right, and an empty seat for Fai to his left. Fai himself currently waited at the centre of the stage smilingly to perform his duties as the archbishop, though he would later have to take his place on the small throne beside Ashura as the king's most beloved ward. Sakura stood serenely off the stage opposite from them, surrounded by guard, waiting to be led up to the pyre that stood on a separate raised dais in front of the stage. The same hooded figure from the day before stood solemnly by the stake amongst the rest of the citizens who had gathered to watch. His mentor stood amongst Sakura's guards; Syaoran wondered why he wasn't taking his usual place by Princess Tomoyo on the stage, also towards that end. And speaking of that, hadn't Tomoyo told him not to come?

Syaoran was startled out of his reverie as everyone present began to applaude, and the princess began to advance onto the stage. He numbly followed at a short distance behind her, taking care not to trod on her dress as he did. Suddenly everything seemed to be happening in slow motion, and he felt almost as if he were underwater.

Sakura in a grey prisoner's shift, still smiling, hands cuffed in front of her. The townsfolk around the stage, all smiling and clapping. Kurogane casting a weary eye around. Fai, turning to face them as they were halfway across the stage, smiling serenely. Behind him, two guards flew the princess' emblem on a flag: a glowing white feather, an intricate design detailed across it in red. Almost like a dream, two figures bursting out onto the stage from the opposite wing, coming out of the castle. Kurogane, and Fai.

"Seize him!" cried the new Fai, pointing at the one standing at the centre of the stage, "That man is an _imposter!"_

All at once, Taishakuten planted himself in front of the king, and Prince Touya shot out of his seat with his sword drawn. The crowd _roared. _The distinct clang of weaponry rang out over the chaos as one of the identical Kuroganes knocked out the rest of the guards and took hold of Sakura, before that side of the stage erupted in smoke. As Syaoran made to move in front of his charge, the princess produced something from within the folds of her dress, and threw it across the stage. The last thing Syaoran saw was the Fai standing in the middle of the stage swiftly dispatching the guards around him and sinking into a defensive stance before he, too, was enveloped in smoke.

Beside him, he caught sight of the hooded figure swinging himself up onto the stage through the haze, sword drawn, and knocking the other two guards unconscious with a startling ease. The brunette drew his own sword and charged, making sure to stay between the mystery person and the princess. The stranger in question neatly sidestepped the blow, and attempted to make for the princess.

"Not that easy!" Syaoran hissed at him, and darted sideways, slicing a small scrap of the brown cloak off as his opponent twisted sharply away from the sharp blade.

The other hesitated before striking back in a flurry of cuts and powerful kicks, and Syaoran found himself being forced back. Dropping down, he swiped his opponent's feet out from under him and lunged forward as the stranger flipped agilely backwards onto his feet again. The cloaked boy parried his blow easily and retaliated fiercely, his sword lighting up in flames. Amber eyes widened in shock as he dodged the fiery blow and swiped towards his opponent's head. What sort of circus trick was_ that?_

"Stop!" cried the princess, appearing out of the smoke, _"_Stop it! Don't hurt him, _he's—"_

She cut herself off with a soft gasp. Both of them turned to see her flailing strangely for a moment, surprise lighting her entire demeanor. As the smoke rolled, Syaoran caught sight, with no small amount of horror, of the very edge of the stage that all three of them had failed to see in the thick smoke. As his stomach dropped through the wooden flooring of the stage, she began to topple sideways, soundlessly.

Syaoran lunged forward, heart stopping as he realized he wouldn't reach her in time.

"_Sakura!"_

The other boy wrenched her towards him, staggering back as the princess slammed into his chest with a yelp, veil tearing with a loud _rip!_

"Sakura-hime!" he cried worriedly, "Are you alright?"

Syaoran reeled back at the familiar jade-green eyes and short auburn locks.

"You—" he spluttered in disbelief, "_Sakura?"_

The smoke was beginning to clear around them, and the princess dug into her sleeves. She pressed something into the stranger's palm, a white glow shining brilliantly from between her fingers.

"This belongs to her, doesn't it?" she cried urgently, "Take it to your princess, _go!"_

The hooded figure took a step back, holding in his hands a glowing feather in the very likeness of the one on the princess' emblem.

"Princess," he said, "I—"

"_Over there!" _a woman screamed from amongst the crowd, "There's someone attacking the princess!"

The princess shoved him.

"_Go!" _she screamed.

The boy hesitated, then nodded and leapt deftly off the stage, feather cupped reverently in his palms as he darted away through the screaming crowd. Through the thinning smoke, Syaoran could have _sworn _he saw a pair of large white wings, and four figures being swallowed up in a beautifully swirling vortex of light.

When the smoke finally cleared, the two impostors had disappeared along with the strange hooded boy—leaving behind an obscene number of unconscious guards—and Sakura—

_Sakura was gone._

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><p><strong>AN: Well, I never _did _say this was AU did I :D? And it IS a SakuSyao ending, considering that the first princess is Sakura... Ehehe, I think I probably just made a bunch of my readers _exceedingly _angry with me. For those who still have no idea what happened, what has happened is that the cast of our original series is dropped into a medieval world, where witch-hunting is still ongoing. Sakura is in the market as Ashura passes by during a parade, he catches sight of her, identifies her as someone looking _exactly like his daughter _and then immediately arrests her. (He thinks she's a witch because why else would she look exactly like the princess? This is a superstitious era, people) The person that second princess Tomoyo of this world sees in her dreams is Tomoyo-hime of Nihon, because Tomoyo-hime meddled in Piffle, so why not here as well? The first princess is DUN DUN DUN the Sakura of this world, and yes, the prince on Day 5 was To-ya~! (**Touya is the prince who was out war, the one Syaoran mentioned. And the war is the one fought against the pirates, that Fai mentioned. Yukito is a healer there.)** **

**Just to clear things up: the Fai with the missing clasp is the Fai of this world, and the Fai with the new robes is our beloved Big Kitty. The boy in the hood is Syaoran, if you still haven't realized, and the Kurogane in the princess' courtyard on Day 5 is the Kurogane of the original series; the Kurogane of this world had been sent to get lychees by Tomoyo. The person who escaped out of the window on Day 6 was Fai, in Knight!Kurogane's black cloak. He ran because the cloak had no hood, so he'd have been found out. The feather was the mysterious treasure in the princess' music box. Syaoran was two-timing because its HITSUZEN. The first princess _is _Sakura after all, but with the appearance of the dimension-traveling Sakura, he is torn between them. IT IS NOT INFIDELITY WHEN THE TWO ARE THE SAME PERSON. Right? _Right? _And if you haven't realized, the princesses have been drugging Bishop!Fai to keep him out of the way, so that they can plot how to save Sakura with Big Kitty. Remember on Day 1 when Fai 'interrogated' Tomoyo? She's pretty damn wary of him because he is _not _stupid. The Fai that Kurogane asked after the night before is not Bishop!Fai but Big Kitty, he caught up to him in the grounds as Big Kitty was fleeing from Ashura-ou. Bishop!Fai has been deteriorating for a few days, but because of Original!Fai's random appearances, everyone is downplaying the severity of his deterioration until the episode with him bursting into the prison tower yesterday.**

**I'd totally recommend you to re-read this, because you have to look out for the honorifics. For example, the Kurogane of this world would call Syaoran 'kid' and our Kurogane would call Syaoran 'kozou'. Fai of this world would call Kurogane 'Kuro-knight' and Syaoran just 'Syaoran', our Fai would call Kurogane 'Kuro-chan', 'Kuro-rin', 'Kuro-puu' etc. And he'd call Syaoran 'Syaoran-kun'. If Fai is calling Sakura 'Sakura-chan' then that is our Big Kitty as well. I'm sure you've noticed that Sakura always uses honorifics, so that is why. If you re-read this, you'll probably be able to tell who is of this world, and who is from our little dimension-traveling group.**

**NOTE: SPOILERS FOR THE END OF THE SERIES**

**The seven chapters are a parallel to TRC. In TRC, R!Sakura and R!Syaoran only knew each other for seven days before Fei Wong Reed placed the curse on her, on their seventh day together, which was actually Sakura's seventh birthday. However, the curse only kills her 7 years from then, on her 14th birthday. (It wouldn't work out if the Syaoran and Sakura of this world were 7, so I made them 14 instead.) And on that 14th birthday, R!Syaoran makes his wish which starts the whole mess of clones and dimension traveling. I don't know if any of you have noticed, but when the first princess was trying to ask Syaoran to become her knight, she uses almost exactly the same words as Clone Sakura when she's trying to confess to Clone Syaoran at the beginning of the manga. Except that Clone Sakura said "I have something I need to say to you" instead of "I have something I need to ask you". And she is interrupted by Prince Touya too! If any of you remember, in the manga the bell interrupts them and Clone Sakura says that she thinks that Touya was trying to interrupt her with the bell, before telling Clone Syaoran that she'll tell him what she wanted to say "next time", and says that she'll definitely say it. The reason why Sakura is trying to put Syaoran with the first princess is because she knows that the first princess is the Sakura of this world. AND IN CASE YOU'VE FORGOTTEN, SAKURA AND SYAORAN HAVE THE SAME BIRTHDAY. The 1st of April, which is why Syaoran says that it is a horrible way to spend his fourteenth birthday here: he shares the same birthday as the first princess.**

**The reason why the SakuSyao is so inexplicit here (no kissing or 'I love you's) is because _that _Sakura is Sakura of pre-Tokyo. Which means that no SakuSyao relationship then. KuroFai end up in bed together, but they haven't slept together _here, _at least, and are pointedly _not talking about it_. Because I've always thought that _something _must have happened in Yama that they refuse to talk about. You don't go out and fight a war and come back _not _feeling horny; they are _guys_. The progress of relationships here are supposed to parallel the current ones between the original cast as they are in this story, which is pre-Tokyo. That's why Fai is still secretive, Kuro is still angry and not at full maturity yet, the first princess as Sakura is still rather full of spunk because her soul hasn't been scattered here, and Syaoran is as he always is, defending the princess, though a little conflicted due to the unexpected appearance of the Sakura from the original series. Big Kitty is still absolutely terrified of Ashura, as seen by his escaping-through-the-window episode on Day 6, because this is pre-Celes arc. He is still traumatized by Ashura's 'you-promised-to-kill-me' fit in Celes before he put the guy into a deep sleep and ran off.**

**END SPOILERS**

**Lastly, if you've read CCS, you should know that Sakura hates math at the beginning, and can never seem to get along with her brother. Touya always calls her "kaijuu", which means monster, and Sakura will always respond with "kaijuu janai!" which means 'I'm not a monster'. I didn't want to use their CCS banter so explicitly here because the identity of the princess was supposed to be a secret! But anyway, I had him call her monstrous, an ogre, an ugly crow. To-ya is _mean~!_ I am saddened by my sore lack of CCS characters. Yue is my snuggle-bunny. I love Yue. And I wish I could have put Yamazaki and Chiharu somewhere in there, I've always loved their interaction. Some sort of Eriol/Syaoran banter would have been funny. **

**Now, I sincerely hope you enjoyed this fic, and it is officially COMPLETE. No more chapters, COMPLETE. I really have to go do that chemistry paper I'd been doing before I got distracted and wrote Octet Configuration instead. I need to go read up on some economics articles in preparation of next year. I need to write 3 reviews on movies I've watched during the holidays, IN CHINESE. And oh my god, I need to finish reading that dreamy little novel I'd been reading (we're studying it next year for literature) before I got distracted and wrote Sanctuary! I'm head-bashing my brains out on the wall right now for how distractible I am.**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**


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